Britain's Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge pose with Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron JamesNeilson Barnard/The Associated Press
LeBron James showed Prince William that it's good to be the King.
James and the Cleveland Cavaliers turned a close game into a clinic after Prince William and his wife, Kate, grabbed courtside seats to watch them, beating the Brooklyn Nets 110-88 on Monday night.
Cleveland outscored Brooklyn 49-27 after Britain's royal couple arrived to cameras flashing, fans roaring and a tie game.
"Yeah, they brought luck to us," James said.
And then James brought gifts to them. He gave the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge cupcakes from a bakery in his hometown of Akron, Ohio and a couple of Cavaliers jerseys: one for their son (Kate is expecting their second child) and another that read "Cambridge" on the back.
"It was their first time watching a basketball game, so it was an honour that I would be that guy they decided they wanted to watch," James said.
Kevin Love was shooting free throws when the royal couple emerged from a tunnel with 7:14 remaining in the third quarter. Perhaps distracted by the loud roar, Love missed the second badly, leaving the game tied at 61.
"It was a little bit more of a distraction than people waving towels or waving whatever it is that they do," Love said. "Yes, it was big distraction. I just tried to make the second shot and it ended up being about a foot short."
But James, putting on a show that few others could, threw some sharp passes to go with his nine points in the period and the Cavs cruised from there to their seventh straight victory.
He finished with 18 points after joining Kyrie Irving and some Nets players in wearing "I Can't Breathe" shirts during warmups.
That would've been the story most nights, but he had to share it with the royals' arrival during their first visit to New York. They met earlier in the game with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, celebrating a partnership between the Royal Foundation and the league to raise awareness about the importance of international wildlife conservation.
The buzz built as officials began gathering near the tunnel at halftime for the couple, and it may have amped up James, who had a quiet first half but took his game to another level in front of William and Kate, a day after saying it was an "honour" to have them watch him play.
James' biggest statement before then came during the pregame layup line. He and Irving, along with Kevin Garnett, Deron Williams and two other Nets, wore warmup shirts in support of the family of Eric Garner, who died July 17 after a police officer placed him in a chokehold when he was being arrested for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. A recording of Garner's arrest showed him gasping, "I can't breathe" during the fatal encounter, and thousands have protested a grand jury decision not to indict the officer since the announcement on Wednesday.
"D-Will brought it to the guys that wanted to wear it and support the cause, and the ones that wanted to wear it wore it. I think it is important," Garnett said.
Williams had 13 points and 11 assists but shot 3 for 14 for the Nets, who played without injured starters Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson.
Love had 19 points and 14 rebounds. Dion Waiters came off Cleveland's bench for 26 points.
WARRIORS 102, TIMBERWOLVES 86
MINNEAPOLIS – Stephen Curry overcame a rare off night from long range to post 21 points and seven assists and help Golden State to their 13th consecutive win with a victory over Minnesota.
Curry missed six of his seven 3-point attempts, but the top-ranked Warriors' defence forced the short-handed Timberwolves to shoot 36 per cent and turn the ball over 19 times to improve to an NBA-best 18-2. Klay Thompson added 21 points and the Warriors left holding their breath after Andrew Bogut left with a knee injury early in the first quarter.
The Warriors called it "right knee irritation" and deemed his return to the game questionable, but he watched the rest from the bench.
Andrew Wiggins had 21 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves, who are playing without three starters and have lost six in a row. Thaddeus Young added 13 points and seven rebounds for Minnesota.
HAWKS 108, PACERS 92
INDIANAPOLIS –Al Horford scored 25 points, and Jeff Teague added 21 as Atlanta beat Indiana.
Kyle Korver added 13 points for Atlanta, which has won eight of its last nine games and seven straight.
The Hawks dominated early and never let up as they built a 28-18 first quarter lead. In building that lead Atlanta (14-6) shot 5 of 9 beyond the arc.
The lead went to 21 when Teague made a layup and free throw after with 8:25 to play in the third quarter.
C.J. Miles and Rodney Stuckey each scored 15 points to lead Indiana (7-14). Luis Scola came off the bench to score 12.
The Pacers only lead, 8-7, came at 7:31 of the first quarter.
WIZARDS 133, CELTICS 132 2OT
WASHINGTON – John Wall scored 26 points, including the last 10, and the Washington rallied to beat Boston in double overtime.
Wall added a career-high 17 assists, Paul Pierce scored a season-high 28 points and Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Washington, which outlasted the Celtics to salvage the finale of the home-and-home series after losing Sunday in Boston.
Washington squandered a 23-point third-quarter lead before rallying in both overtimes.
Jeff Green led Boston with 28 points, rookie Marcus Smart added a career-high 23 and Kelly Olynyk finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
SACRAMENTO 101, JAZZ 92
SACRAMENTO – Rudy Gay scored 29 points, and Sacramento overcame the absence of centre DeMarcus Cousins to beat Utah.
Darren Collison added 16 points and six assists, and rookie Nik Stauskas scored a season-high 15 points to go with eight rebounds as Sacramento pulled away in the fourth quarter for a rare win without its leading man.
Cousins sat out for the sixth straight game because of viral meningitis, which will sideline him at least the rest of the week. The Kings are 2-4 without Cousins this season and had lost 17 of their previous 18 games when he doesn't play.
Gordon Hayward had 19 points and seven assists, and Alec Burks returned from a left shoulder injury to score 16 points for the Jazz, who have lost nine in a row.
Sacramento outshot Utah 47.3 to 40.5 per cent.
CLIPPERS 121, SUNS 120 OT
LOS ANGELES – Blake Griffin scored a season-high 45 points, drilling the winning 3-pointer that hit the rim and dropped in at the buzzer, to help Los Angeles beat Phoenix Suns in overtimE for their eighth straight victory.
Griffin made 15 of 17 free throws, and finished two points off his career high. Chris Paul had 20 points and 10 assists, J.J. Redick added 17 points, and DeAndre Jordan had 10 points and 14 rebounds in a game featuring rat-a-tat offence.
Eric Bledsoe had a triple-double of 27 points, a career-high 16 assists and 11 rebounds for the Suns. Markieff Morris scored 21 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers in overtime that rallied the Suns from a two-point deficit to a four-point lead.
Goran Dragic added 17 points for the Suns, who had six players in double figures. Bledsoe tied his career high in rebounds against his former team.