LeBron James got the last word in a wild game.
James stepped back under pressure from Ronny Turiaf and knocked down a 19-footer that barely beat the final buzzer, giving the Cleveland Cavaliers a 106-105 road victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday night.
“It’s a great feeling, especially when you get it like that and then you hear the horn and the shot goes in and there’s no way they can try to make a comeback at us,” James said.
“I wish everyone could get that type of feeling. It’s unbelievable.”
His teammates jumped up and down in delight when the ball went through, then the officials gathered to review the play before ruling his shot beat the buzzer.
James finished with 32 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, three steals and two blocked shots, but also missed three second-half free throws and went 10-for-16 from the line.
“That guy there, No. 23, LeBron … it is what it is,” teammate Mo Williams said. “He’s a great player and he makes great plays.”
its sixth win in eight games, Cleveland (33-8) took over the Eastern Conference lead, percentage points ahead of Boston (36-9).
In other NBA games Friday night, it was: Charlotte 98, Phoenix 76; New York 108, Memphis 88; Dallas 112, Detroit 91; San Antonio 94, New Jersey 91; the Los Angeles Clippers 107, Oklahoma City 104; Toronto 114, Chicago 94; Minnesota 116, New Orleans 108; Atlanta 117, Milwaukee 87; and Indiana 107, Houston 102.
Golden State’s Stephen Jackson hit a go-ahead 22-foot jumper over James with 6.4 seconds left and finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. The Warriors also lost at the buzzer Wednesday night against Oklahoma City.
Monta Ellis scored 20 points in his return to the Golden State lineup after missing the first 43 of the season because of a sprained left ankle. He was hurt in an accident five months ago on a motorized scooter.
“It felt great,” Ellis said. “It went down to the end and great players make great shots at the end of the game. I didn’t expect anything. … Being out so long part of my game’s still rusty.”
Bobcats 98, Suns 76
At Charlotte, N.C., Boris Diaw dominated Phoenix a month after the Suns traded him to Charlotte, finishing with 26 points and 11 rebounds to spoil Jason Richardson’s first game against his former teammates.
e added 28 points, and former Sun Raja Bell had nine points and a career-high eight assists in Charlotte’s fifth win in six games.
Shaquille O’Neal had 20 points for the Suns. Richardson, Charlotte’s top scorer before the trade, scored eight points.
Knicks 108, Grizzlies 88
At New York, David Lee had 19 points and 14 rebounds to help New York win its third straight game and hand Memphis its eighth straight loss, a day after the Grizzlies fired coach Marc Iavaroni.
Rudy Gay led Memphis with 20 points. Assistant Johnny Davis directed the Grizzlies as interim coach. Lionel Hollins is working on a contract to serve as Memphis’ coach for the third time – the first time without the interim label.
Mavericks 112, Pistons 91
At Auburn Hills, Mich., Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points, Josh Howard added 22 and Dallas rebounded from its worst performance of the season.
The Mavericks were coming off a 133-99 loss in Milwaukee on Wednesday night.
Brandon Bass added a season-high 18 points, and Jason Kidd had 11 points and 10 assists for Dallas. Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 17 points.
Spurs 94, Nets 9
At San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 30 points and 15 rebounds, and Michael Finley hit a pivotal 3-pointer for San Antonio with 22.6 seconds left.
0th straight All-Star start, he led the Spurs to their fourth straight victory. Devin Harris scored 27 points, and Vince Carter had 26 for New Jersey. The Nets have lost five straight.
Clippers 107, Thunder 104
At Los Angeles, rookie Eric Gordon scored a season-high 41 points, and Al Thornton had a season-high 34 for Los Angeles.
Kevin Durant had a career night, too, for Oklahoma City, finishing with a career-best 46 points and 15 rebounds.
Raptors 114, Bulls 94
At Chicago, Jose Calderon had 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting and added 10 assists in his return to Toronto’s lineup, helping the Raptors snap a seven-game losing streak.
Calderon returned after missing 10 of the last 11 games because of a strained right hamstring. He went 4-for-4 from the line and has made 83 straight free throws dating to last season, the second-longest streak in NBA history. Michael Williams set the record of 97 for Minnesota in 1993.
Ben Gordon scored 19 points for Chicago. The Bulls have lost four straight.
Timberwolves 116, Hornets 108
At Minneapolis, Al Jefferson had 24 points and 14 rebounds, and Randy Foye had 24 points and eight assists to help Minnesota improve to 8-2 in January.
and 12 assists.
Hawks 117, Bucks 87
At Atlanta, Flip Murray scored a season-high 25 points, Josh Smith had 24 and Atlanta raced away to its biggest victory of the season.
Mike Bibby had 15 assists for the Hawks, who shot 56 percent from the field while winning their third in a row. Charlie Villanueva led Milwaukee with 27 points.
Pacers 107, Rockets 102
At Indianapolis, Danny Granger scored 25 points, T.J. Ford added 21, and Troy Murphy had 14 points and 16 rebounds to help Indiana snap a two-game losing skid.
Luis Scola led Houston with a career-high 25 points. Houston center Yao Ming left the game with a sore right knee and didn’t play in the second half.
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