Nets Win 3rd Straight, Topping Cavaliers

Deron Williams had 26 points and 10 assists, Joe Johnson scored 25 points, and the Brooklyn Nets beat the road-weary Cleveland Cavaliers 114-101 on Tuesday night for their third straight victory.

Brook Lopez added 23 points for the Nets, who opened a 20-point lead at home for the third straight game, but this time barely let up and beat the Cavaliers for the sixth time in eight meetings after losing nine in a row, mostly during the LeBron James era.

Anderson Varejao scored a career-high 35 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who were wrapping up a six-game, coast-to-coast trip and played much of the game with the urgency of a team that wanted to be home.

They haven't played there since Nov. 2, their second game of the season, and dropped the final four games of the trip to finish 1-5.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)