LeBron James finished with 41 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, and Cleveland Cavaliers set an NBA postseason record by erasing a 25-point halftime deficit to beat hosts Indiana Pacers 119-111 Thursday night and take a 3-0 lead. James passed Kobe Bryant for No. 3 on the NBA's career playoff scoring list and tied another NBA record by winning his 20th consecutive first-round game. "We knew we had to take (some) punches, but it was a flurry, more than we expected," James said. "At halftime, I was just looking at the guys and telling them ‘Let's get a couple stops.'" The incredible rally ruined Paul George's big night. He had 36 points, a playoff career-high 15 rebounds and nine assists. Cleveland trailed by 26 in the first half and was still down 74-49 at halftime. The largest halftime deficit overcome to win a playoff game had been 21 points by Baltimore against Philadelphia in 1948. James scored 13 points in the third quarter to get the Cavs within 91-84. Cleveland regained the lead twice during a 15-5 fourth-quarter run and closed it out with a 12-5 spurt. The Cavaliers will try to sweep Pacers Sunday. "We just never quit," coach Tyronn Lue said. "We knew the importance of this game. To go up 3-0, makes things a lot more difficult for those guys." James now has 5,669 points, 29 ahead of Bryant. He also matched three other ex-Los Angeles Lakers — Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper and James Worthy — for most consecutive first-round wins. Grizzlies 105, Spurs 94 Mike Conley scored 24 points and handed out eight assists as host Memphis snapped a 10-game postseason skid against San Antonio. The Grizzlies pulled within 2-1 in this first-round Western Conference series. This also marked the Grizzlies' first win over the Spurs in the playoffs since April 2011, when Memphis beat San Antonio in six games. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph each scored 21 points for Memphis, which outscored San Antonio 31-17 in the third quarter and led by as much as 22 in the second half. The Spurs' Kawhi Leonard, who scored 32 and 37 in the first two games, was held to 18. Bucks 104, Raptors 77 Khris Middleton scored 20 points and host Milwaukee overwhelmed cold-shooting Toronto to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. Greg Monroe added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Bucks, who held DeMar DeRozan without a basket and never looked back after leading by 20 points after the first quarter. Making this blowout even more impressive was that they barely needed All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo. He finished with 19 points and eight boards. With raucous fans wearing black Bucks giveaway T-shirts to match the players' uniforms, Milwaukee put on a dominating display of basketball worthy of the team's "Fear the Deer" slogan. The Raptors looked frazzled after shooting 4 of 18 in the first quarter. — Agencies
