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Cleveland’s LeBron James (23) shoots against Boston’s Evan Turner (11) and Marcus Smart (36) on Tuesday. James moved into 21st on the NBA’s career scoring list.

CLEVELAND — LeBron James scored 27 points to move into 21st place on the NBA’s career list, and the Cleveland Cavaliers cruised to a 110-79 victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night.

James, who has 24,508 career points, moved past Ray Allen with a layup in the third quarter. He was pulled with 4:41 remaining in the period and didn’t return, playing 26 minutes.

Kyrie Irving scored 18 points in his return after missing two games with a shoulder injury, and Kevin Love — who played despite missing the morning shoot-around due to illness — added 12 points.

Brandon Bass scored 15 points to lead Boston, which lost by its largest margin of the season.

Hornets 104, Lakers 103

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Al Jefferson had 21 points and 16 rebounds, Mo Williams added 20 points and 13 assists and Charlotte beat Los Angeles for a third win in four games.

Williams, who came in averaging 23.4 points in his first five games since being acquired from Minnesota, had his third double-double with the Hornets.

Williams knocked down a big 3-pointer with a minute to play to push the lead to six and added five free throws in the final 18 seconds to seal the win.

Gerald Henderson added 21 points, including several key baskets late in the fourth quarter. Cody Zeller had 10 points and 11 rebounds as all five Charlotte starters finished in double figures.

Jeremy Lin led the Lakers with 23 points off the bench, while Jordan Clarkson had 19.

Kings 124, Knicks 86

NEW YORK — Rudy Gay scored 25 points, DeMarcus Cousins had 22 and Ben McLemore finished with 20 and Sacramento handed New York its worst loss of the season.

The Kings scored the first four points and never trailed. They built the lead to 16 after the first quarter and to as many as 30 in the second and eventually won by 38.

Alexey Shved led the Knicks with 15 points. Jason Smith and Shane Larkin had 13 each.

After shooting only 35 percent (7-for-20) from the field in the first quarter, the Knicks were even worse in the second, going 6-for-24 for 25 percent.

Their previous worst loss was by 28 points to Charlotte, 110-82, on Jan. 10.