Kevin Love didn’t receive any love for a spot on the Eastern Conference roster for next month’s NBA All-Star Game, but the Cleveland Cavaliers premier big man shone the brightest on Friday.    
Love fired in five triples en route to 29 points and the visiting Cavaliers rolled to their third straight victory, 114-106 over the Detroit Pistons.
“I don’t know that I need any more motivation,” Love said prior to tipoff.  
Love delivered his second-highest point total of the season and best since November.
“When Kevin is shooting the ball like that and being aggressive he can’t be stopped,” said teammate Kyrie Irving, who finished with 28 points.  
With Love and Irving leading the way, teammate LeBron James didn’t have to carry the usual entire load.
“Those two were in a rhythm and being aggressive,” said James, the Cavs’ lone All-Star. “They got it done and I filled in.”
James collected 20 points with nine rebounds and eight assists for the Eastern Conference-best Cavs (33-12), who improved to 3-1 since Tyronn Lue replaced fired head coach David Blatt a week ago.
“It feels great,” said Lue, who was named to coach of the East in the league’s mid-season showcase to be played February 14 in Toronto.  “We’re starting to gel as a unit.”
Lue wants the Cavs to push the pace and they’ve responded, averaging nearly 115 points in the three victories.
With Irving running the offence, Cleveland led 66-58 at halftime behind 19 Love points.
The gap grew to 20 in the third quarter and the Cavs carried a 96-78 cushion into the final 12 minutes, and never allowed the lead to dip below nine en route to their 10th win in the last 11 games. “We just want to continue the process of what coach wants to do,” James said. “I think we did that tonight.
“We’re not where we want to be but we’re going in the right direction.”
First-time All-Star Andre Drummond had 20 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 19 for the Pistons (25-22), who won the first meeting but were victimised by the Cavs’ Big Three.
“They got three great players who were terrific,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. “So how are you going to beat a good team playing that well? You have to take away what you can take away and we didn’t.”
Elsewhere:
lOklahoma City Thunder 116, Houston Rockets 108: Kevin Durant had 33 points and 12 rebounds, while Russell Westbrook picked up his sixth triple-double of the season with 26 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds, and the Thunder (36-13) rolled the visiting Rockets for its 10th win in the last 11 games. James Harden scored 33 points for the Rockets (25-24), who lost centre Dwight Howard to a third quarter ejection after drawing two technical fouls.
lMiami Heat 107, Milwaukee Bucks 103: Dwyane Wade scored 24 points, including the tie-breaking jumper with 44.5 seconds left, and two game-sealing free throws in the final seconds as the visiting Heat (26-20) held off the Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo topped Milwaukee (20-29) with 28 points.
lDallas Mavericks 91, Brooklyn Nets 79: Chandler Parsons had 19 points with a season-best 10 rebounds, Zaza Pachulia added 16 with 12 retrieves, and the Mavericks (27-22) handed the visiting Nets their 12th loss in the last 15 games. Brook Lopez topped Brooklyn (12-35) with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
lNew York Knicks 102, Phoenix Suns 84: Carmelo Anthony, returning after missing two games with a sore left knee, had 19 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and the Knicks (23-26) stopped a four-game slide while sending the Suns (14-34) to their 13th straight road loss.
lBoston Celtics 113, Orlando Magic 94: Kelly Olynyk and Marcus Smart scored 16 points apiece, and the Celtics opened the fourth quarter on a decisive 22-4 blitz en route to their season-high fifth straight win while handing the host Magic an eighth straight defeat.
lUtah Jazz 103, Minnesota Timberwolves 90: Rodney Hood scored 22 points, Derrick Favors had 20, and the Jazz (21-25) withstood a sparkling 32-point, 12-rebound effort by rookie Karl-Anthony Towns to handle the visiting Timberwolves (14-34).
lPortland Trail Blazers 109, Charlotte Hornets 91: Damian Lillard dropped in 22 points, Allen Crabbe had 20 off the bench and the Trail Blazers (22-26) squashed the Hornets (22-25) for their third straight win.
lLA Clippers 105, LA Lakers 93: Chris Paul scored 27 points, reserve Austin Rivers had six of his 17 in a decisive 19-7 third quarter burst, and the  Clippers (31-6) beat their Staples Center co-tenant Lakers for the ninth straight time. Julius Randle had 23 points with 14 rebounds for the sliding Lakers (9-40), who lost their ninth straight game.