James records triple-double, Love returns lifting Cavs past Bucks

LeBron James scored 40 points as part of his third triple-double in four games and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 124-117 on Monday night at Quicken Loans Arena as coach Tyronn Lue began his leave of absence to address health issues.

Lue said Monday in a statement he been dealing with chest pains and loss of sleep, and that tests have offered no conclusion about what the issue is. Lue, 40, led Cleveland to the 2016 NBA championship after taking over for David Blatt midway through that season.The Cavaliers (41-29) are third in the Eastern Conference and have endured roster shake-ups, injuries and other distractions as they try to reach the NBA Finals for the fourth straight time.

No timetable has been given for when Lue will return. He missed the second half Saturday, the second time this season he left a game because he wasn't feeling well. Lue also sat out a game against Chicago at home in December.

Associate head coach Larry Drew will run the team in Lue's absence starting with Monday's home game against Milwaukee. Drew said he received a text message from Lue at 1:30 a.m. saying, ''It's your show.''

"It's obviously like losing one of your best players, " Lebron James told reporters Monday. "Obviously the guy that's pretty much the captain of the ship, that's run the thing for the last three years. Everyone has to step up. We have coaches in place that's ready for that challenge, and we have to do our job as players as well. Like I said, his health is most important, and we look forward to when he comes back."

James scored 17 points in the third quarter and finished with 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his 16th triple-double this season and 71st of his career.

Cavaliers All-Star forward Kevin Love returned after missing six weeks because of a broken left hand and scored 18 points in 25 minutes. The five-time All-Star finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks while shooting 4-for-9 from 3-point range.

"I thought he gave us a tremendous effort...it was really good to have him back." Coach Drew on Kevin Love's return tonight against the Bucks. “He gives us that real inside presence along with his ability to shoot the ball from the outside. More than anything, I think we’ve really missed being able to go to someone else inside other than LeBron."

The Cavs were 30-20, third place in the Eastern Conference, when Love went down. They went just 10-9 in his absence, but despite that have maintained their standing in the East. That span included Cleveland's roster-shaking trade deadline day, which saw six players shipped out and four new ones arrive.

Five-time All-Star Love played his first game in seven weeks after fracturing his left hand on Jan. 30 and centers Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance Jr. look close to returning, according to associate head coach Larry Drew. The Cavs played without forward Rodney Hood (lower back strain) and Cedi Osman (left hip strain) and centers Thompson (sprained right ankle) and Nance (right hamstring soreness).

The Cavs opened a three-game home stand after going 3-3 on their longest road trip of the season. Cleveland trails second-place Boston by six games. If the Cavs finish third place or worse (three teams are 1.5 games behind or less), it would be the lowest conference finish by a James-led team since 2007-08, when Cleveland entered the postseason as a fourth seed.

Two-time All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who notched his 23rd 30-point game of the season, led the Bucks with 37 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and Khris Middleton added 30 points, making 11 of 16 from the field. It wasn't enough to help the Bucks avoid their eighth loss in their last 12 games.

COMING UP NEXT FOR THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: The Cleveland Cavaliers (41-29) host the Toronto Raptors (52-18) in a ESPN nationally televised game at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.