In brief: James leads Cavs, keeps the peace

Basketball: LeBron James had 23 points, six rebounds and seven assists while adding the role of peacemaker to his duties, and the Cavaliers beat the New Jersey Nets 99-89 Tuesday night in Cleveland.

The Nets’ Devin Harris was ejected with 3:48 left in the game after committing a flagrant-2 foul on Cleveland’s Jamario Moon. With Cleveland leading by 11, Harris wrapped his arm around Moon’s face and neck and pulled him to the ground while Moon was going up for a breakaway basket. It caused a brief skirmish that left James squarely in the middle.

James wrapped his arms around Harris and tried to pull him away while restoring order as some of his teammates, including Shaquille O’Neal, began jawing and pushing their way toward Harris.

No punches were thrown and Harris was the only player ejected.

•Bryant’s 42 points lead Lakers: Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 42 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers won for the 12th time in 13 games, beating the fading Bulls 96-87 in Chicago.

Down one through three quarters, the Lakers pulled away early in the fourth and sent Chicago to its 11th loss in 13 games.

•Aldridge helps Blazers over Kings: LaMarcus Aldridge hit the go-ahead layup despite a bum ankle and the Trail Blazers defeated the Sacramento Kings 95-88 in Portland.

Aldridge finished with 25 points and nine rebounds.

•U.S., Iran will meet at worlds: The United States will face Iran, and Greece will take on Turkey in a pair of group games at the world basketball championship.

The Americans and Iranians were drawn into Group B along with Croatia, Brazil, Tunisia and Slovenia. The tournament will be played Aug. 28-Sept. 12 in the cities of Ankara, Kayseri, Istanbul and Izmir.

Staal, Crosby lead Penguins over Flyers

Hockey: Jordan Staal scored twice and Sidney Crosby’s goal and assist early in the first period amid a succession of fights lifted the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh.

Crosby scored an infrequent Penguins power-play goal 3:30 in – and before a flurry of three fights in 16 seconds – and set up Bill Guerin’s goal about 21/2 minutes later, immediately after the first round of pushing, shoving and punching. Crosby had a three-point night and has 21 goals and 28 assists in 28 career games against Philadelphia.

•Blue Jackets slip by Wild: Marek Zidlicky scored with 39 seconds left, snapping a tie and giving the Minnesota Wild a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in St. Paul, Minn.

Scheyer leads No. 7 Duke with career day

College Basketball: Jon Scheyer had career highs of 36 points and nine assists to lead No. 7 Duke past Gardner-Webb 113-68 in Durham, N.C.

He was 11 of 13 from the field, had 24 points by halftime and finished with a personal-best seven 3-pointers to lead the Blue Devils (8-1).

Auryn MacMillan scored 14 points to lead the Runnin’ Bulldogs (3-5).

Big Ten looks to expand to 12 teams

College Football: The Big Ten might be getting bigger.

Commissioner Jim Delany said the conference is going to explore options over the next 12 to 18 months for expanding the league.

The league’s presidents and chancellors decided this month that the timing is right to study adding a 12th school.

The conference actually has 11 football teams, despite its name.

•Jones emerges as Cincy’s top choice: A person familiar with Cincinnati’s coaching search tells The Associated Press that Central Michigan’s Butch Jones has emerged as the school’s choice to replace Brian Kelly.

The Morning Sun in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., reported that Jones had begun negotiating a contract with Cincinnati.

Canadian doctor under investigation

Miscellany: A Canadian doctor who has treated golfer Tiger Woods and many other pro athletes is under a joint U.S.-Canadian investigation for possibly providing performance-enhancing drugs, a U.S. official said.

The official familiar with the investigation said Canadian authorities have been investigating Dr. Anthony Galea, who was arrested Oct. 15 in Toronto, and the FBI has been brought into the case.

•Persian Gulf out as America’s Cup site: A New York appeals court effectively ended a long, bitter legal fight between two of the world’s richest men when it unanimously upheld a lower court’s order that Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, doesn’t qualify under the 19th-century Deed of Gift to host sailing’s America’s Cup.

The 4-0 ruling by the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division made the Swiss choice of RAK a two-time loser in court and finalized Valencia, Spain, as the port for the rare head-to-head showdown for the oldest trophy in international sports.

•Indy 500 trims schedule: The Indianapolis 500 will cut one week out of its traditional schedule in May.

The track will open May 15, a week later than normal, and there will be only two days of qualifying instead of four. Pole Day will be May 22. Bump Day will be May 23. The race week schedule will remain unchanged.