LeBron passes Pippen as NBA’s all-time assists leader

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — LeBron James passed one of his idols and Kevin Love took advantage of his generosity.

James became the NBA’s all-time leader in assists by a forward as he sparked the Cleveland Cavaliers’ rally from 14-point, second-half deficit in a 102-93 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night at The Palace. James’ 11 assists gave him 6,142 for his career, seven more than the previous record holder for a forward, Chicago Bulls Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen.

“When I started to shape my game, I knew that I’d be that point forward,” said James, who also racked up 19 points and seven rebounds while overcoming nine turnovers. “I thought that would be my trademark. Obviously, I looked up to Michael Jordan as someone who gave me a lot of inspiration but as a kid, I never thought I could get to that point. Jordan was so surreal but Pippen, (Penny) Hardaway and Allen Iverson were those guys I really, really thought that I could be.”

Love was the recipient on five of James’ assists on Tuesday while scoring 24 points, all on his career-high-tying eight 3-pointers.

“I was taught the game the right way,” James said. “Seeing my teammates succeed, it’s always been something I’ve cared about more than anything. That’s what it’s all about.”

The power forward made four 3-pointers in the third quarter when the Cavaliers (36-22), who have won 17 of their last 19 games, took control. Cleveland moved within a half-game of Chicago for the Central Division lead.

“Kevin had it going and we found a set that was working,” James said.

Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving contributed 18 points and five assists and center Timofey Mozgov had 14 points.

“We just decided to wake up and start playing the game the way that we have for several weeks now,” Cavs coach David Blatt said. “We weren’t defending and we came out of timeouts without the energy and without the grit that we have to have in order to win. We made the point to each other and we lived up to it and then the game changed.”

Point guard Reggie Jackson’s 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds led Detroit (23-34). Shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 21 points, center Andre Drummond supplied 17 points and 10 rebounds and power forward Greg Monroe added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Pistons.

Detroit shot just 30.8 percent in the second half and committed eight turnovers.

“I don’t think the loss was a chemistry issue,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. “We just weren’t very strong against their pressure over the last 18 minutes.”

Small forward Tayshaun Prince, who was traded back to his original team by Boston on Thursday, scored seven points while beginning his second stint with Detroit.

When Caldwell-Pope stole a James pass and made a pull-up 3-pointer, Detroit had a 67-53 lead early in the third. Cleveland then climbed back with a 10-0 run that included two more Love 3-pointers. Love put the Cavs back in front at 73-70 with consecutive 3s midway through the quarter.

With his team up two early in the fourth, James fueled a 9-0 outburst that put the Cavaliers up by double digits. He had a three-point play and another layup and also found reserve forward James Jones for an open trey. James’ 3-pointer with 3:04 left made it 89-78.

Detroit never threatened from that point.

“They turned up their defense,” Monroe said. “They started getting into us and we couldn’t do things as comfortably as we did in the first half. That was the major difference.”