Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James celebrates with Dion WaitersMark Duncan/The Associated Press
LeBron James and Kyrie Irving stepped aside and let one of their teammates polish off an opponent.
On Sunday, Dion Waiters finished Memphis.
Waiters scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Cleveland Cavaliers handled one of the Western Conference's best teams, beating the short-handed Grizzlies 105-91.
The Cavs have been waiting for the enigmatic and inconsistent Waiters to become more reliable. It's still a work in progress but Waiters, who has frequently been mentioned in trade rumours over the past two seasons, is showing signs of developing into a steady scorer off the bench.
"He's learning every day," said James, who had 25 points and 11 assists. "He's a young guy. He hasn't experienced much in this league, so for him to have a game like he had, we needed it."
James scored 16 in the second half and the Cavs shot a season-best 61 per cent from the field to improve to just 3-6 against West teams. Anderson Varejao scored 18 and Irving had 17 points and 12 assists for the Cavs, who are 11-3 since their sluggish 5-7 start.
Marc Gasol scored 23 and added 11 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who played without forward Zach Randolph. He's nursing a sore and swollen right knee he injured in Friday's loss at Chicago.
Jon Leuer added 16 points for Memphis, which dropped to 21-6.
Gasol refused to use Randolph's absence as an excuse.
"We play who we have," he said. "Whoever's not here is not here. Trust me, we have enough talent in this locker room not just to win tonight but to win the same amount of games we've won so far."
Despite not having Randolph, their leading rebounder, Grizzlies were still within 79-74 when the Cavs went on an 8-0 run to take control. Irving triggered the spurt with a basket before Waiters, who was benched in the second half of a win over Brooklyn on Friday, fed James for an alley-oop dunk. Waiters then drained a 3-pointer to cap an 11-3 run, and the backup guard scored eight consecutive points to push Cleveland's lead to 100-83.
Waiters scored 11 points in a span of 2:10, assuming the closer role usually played by James and Irving.
"When it's not one of those guys nights, somebody's got to step up and my approach every game is to be locked in as far as being consistent and being aggressive at all times, that's just who I am," Waiters said. "I just try to let the game come to me now. I just take what they give me."
Cavs coach David Blatt said his team would need to "bring it" to match the Grizzlies' physicality. Cleveland brought it, building a 20-6 lead in the first quarter, helped by Gasol going to the bench after picking up his second personal. The Grizzlies, though, battled back and were only down 11 at halftime.
KINGS 108, LAKERS 101
SACRAMENTO – DeMarcus Cousins had 29 points and 14 rebounds in his second start since returning from a serious illness, and Sacramento beat Los Angeles to snap a five-game losing streak. Rudy Gay scored 24 points, and Ben McLemore added 23 points and eight rebounds to help the Kings pull away late. Sacramento had lost 10 of 12 games – going 2-8 while Cousins recovered from viral meningitis – and fired coach Michael Malone last week.
Tyrone Corbin won for the first time in three games as Sacramento's interim coach.
Nick Young scored 26 points, and Kobe Bryant had 25 for the Lakers, who have lost six of eight. Bryant shot just 8 of 30 and had five rebounds and three assists.
PELICANS 101, THUNDER 99
OKLAHOMA CITY – Anthony Davis scored 38 points to lead New Orleans past Oklahoma City.
It was the third-highest point total of Davis' career. He made 16 of 22 shots and had 12 rebounds.
Jrue Holiday had 11 points and matched a career high with 15 assists for the Pelicans.
Russell Westbrook scored 29 points for the Thunder, but he missed a 3-pointer that could have given Oklahoma City the lead in the closing seconds. Reggie Jackson added 19 points.
Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant missed his second straight game because of a sprained right ankle.
SUNS 104, WIZARDS 92
WASHINGTON – Eric Bledsoe and Markieff Morris each scored 17 points, Goran Dragic added 16 and Phoenix beat Washington to end the Wizards' winning streak at six.
The Suns finished 3-0 on their trip after losing six in a row. They opened the road swing in Charlotte on Wednesday night and beat New York on Saturday.
Rasual Butler led the Wizards with 17 points, and Kevin Seraphin had a season-high 16.
Washington cut it to 95-89 on Paul Pierce's layup with 2:40 to play, but the Suns scored nine straight – seven by Bledsoe – to take a 104-89 lead with 1:01 to play.
HEAT 100, CELTICS 84
MIAMI – Luol Deng had 23 points, James Ennis scored 10 of his 16 in the fourth quarter and Miami beat Boston end five-game home losing streak.
It was the first time in 154 games that Miami didn't have any of its former Big Three – Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh or LeBron James. Wade sat with a bruised right knee, Bosh missed his fifth straight game with a left calf strain and James now plays for Cleveland.
Tyler Zeller scored 22 points for Boston, which had won three straight.
PACERS 100, TIMBERWOLVES 96
MINNEAPOLIS – C.J. Miles scored 28 points and David West bulled his way to the basket for two big points with 34 seconds to play to help Indiana hold off Minnesota.
Miles hit 10 of 18 shots and Roy Hibbert had 15 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for the Pacers, who got 48 points from their bench. They shot a season-high 50 per cent from the field on the second night of a back-to-back and forced 16 turnovers to win for just the second time this month.
Mo Williams had 24 points and 10 assists for the Timberwolves.
76ERS 96, MAGIC 88
ORLANDO – Michael Carter-Williams scored 21 points and Philadelphia rallied in the second half to beat Orlando for its third victory of the season.
The 76ers ended a five-game losing streak. All three of their victories have come on the road.
Victor Oladipo had 23 points for the Magic.
NETS 110, PISTONS 105
NEW YORK – Mason Plumlee scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and had 12 rebounds in Brooklyn's victory over Detroit.
Joe Johnson added 16 points, including four free throws in the final 12 seconds. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 20 points for Detroit, and Andre Drummond finished with 18 points and 20 rebounds.