LeBron James will see a familiar, Cleveland face at the All-Star game after all.
It won’t be a teammate – Mo Williams didn’t get picked to join James in Phoenix – but Cavs coach Mike Brown will be there, leading the Eastern Conference on Feb. 15.
The Cavaliers improved to a perfect 22-0 at home with a 112-95 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.
As coach of the team with the highest winning percentage on Feb. 1, Brown was picked. Although Cleveland (.800) trails Boston (.813), Brown got the nod over Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who is ineligible because he coached in last season’s game in New Orleans.
“OK, so they had no choice but to give it to him,” James said sarcastically. “They had no choice. I’ll leave it at that.”
James was irked that Williams didn’t get the nod despite a breakout season from the guard that has helped the Cavaliers get off to the best start in team history.
Lakers 132, Minnesota 119; Philadelphia 104, Washington 94; Milwaukee 96, Toronto 85; Indiana 114, Miami 103; Atlanta 105, New Jersey 88; Utah 110, Oklahoma City 90; Denver 110, Charlotte 99; Golden State 91, New Orleans 87; and Chicago 109, Sacramento 88.
Cleveland bounced back from a tough loss in Orlando the night before, thanks to the return of Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
Ilgauskas scored 20 points with 11 rebounds in his first game in exactly one month because of a broken left ankle and James added 25 points. Williams made five of six 3-pointers and added 23 points for Cleveland, now 9-0 after a loss.
Rookie Eric Gordon scored 27 for the Clippers, who stayed close for nearly three quarters before dropping their eighth straight road game as they began a seven-game trip. Los Angeles has lost 18 of 20.
“We were a little unfortunate to catch them on a night they got Ilgauskas back,” Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. “He certainly paid the rent tonight. His ability to make shots from the outside stretches your big guys out. He’s got really good range and gives them something they’ve been missing.”
Celtics 86, Pistons 78
In Auburn Hills, Mich., Kevin Garnett scored 22, Paul Pierce had 20 points and Ray Allen added 14 to lead Boston to its second 10-game winning streak of the season.
ns are an NBA-best 39-9 thanks to the current run and a franchise-record 19-game winning streak early in the season.
Detroit’s Allen Iverson scored 19 points, moving past Charles Barkley and into 16th place on the NBA’s career scoring list.
Lakers 132, Timberwolves 119
In Minneapolis, Andrew Bynum bulled his way inside to 27 points and 15 rebounds, a perfect complement to Kobe Bryant, who scored 30 points.
Pau Gasol scored 21 points for the Lakers, who beat Minnesota for the sixth consecutive time.
Al Jefferson had 34 points and 13 rebounds and Randy Foye scored 27 points for the Wolves.
76ers 104, Wizards 94
In Philadelphia, Willie Green scored a season-high 20 points and Andre Iguodala had 20, too.
The Sixers built a 15-point lead in the first half, then watched it evaporate against the worst team in the NBA. The Wizards lost their fifth straight.
Royal Ivey hit a pair of tiebreaking 3-pointers in the final 2 minutes of the third.
Antawn Jamison had 25 points and 15 rebounds for the Wizards.
Bucks 96, Raptors 85
In Toronto, Charlie Villanueva had 26 points and 13 rebounds, Richard Jefferson added 17 points and Milwaukee won for the first time since Michael Redd went down with a season-ending knee injury.
ndrea Bargnani and Jermaine O’Neal each add 16 points.
Pacers 114, Heat 103
Mike Dunleavy scored a season-high 30 points, and Indiana won its seventh straight home game.
Dunleavy missed the first 34 games this season with a sore right knee, but the Pacers are 6-3 with him in the starting lineup. Danny Granger, a first-time All-Star, scored 19 points.
Dwyane Wade scored 24 points for the Heat, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Hawks 105, Nets 88
In Atlanta, Joe Johnson scored 29 points and the Hawks won a matchup of high-scoring backcourts.
Johnson’s backcourt-mate Mike Bibby added 20 points and the Hawks won for the first time in four tries against the Nets.
New Jersey’s Devin Harris and Vince Carter form the top-scoring backcourt in the league with a combined average of 43.1 points. Harris had 20 points and Carter added 18 against the Hawks.
Jazz 110, Thunder 90
In Salt Lake City, Deron Williams had 24 points and 12 assists and Utah snapped a four-game losing streak.
Mehmet Okur scored 20 points and Paul Millsap added 16 points, nine rebounds and tied a career high with seven assists for the Jazz, who capitalized on the Thunder’s 24 turnovers.
Kevin Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds and Russell Westbrook had 20 points.
ts 99
In Denver, Carmelo Anthony scored 19 points in his first game back from a broken right hand for Denver.
Nene had 22 points, hitting 10 of 11 shots, and 12 rebounds, his 14th double-double of the season. Linas Kleiza chipped in 21 points.
Anthony wasn’t bothered by a broken bone in his shooting hand, finishing 5-of-12 from the floor and 9-of-11 from the free throw line.
Raja Bell led the Bobcats with a season-high 27 points.
Warriors 91, Hornets 87
In New Orleans, Corey Maggette scored 12 of his 19 points in the last six minutes.
Jamal Crawford scored 17 for Golden State.
Chris Paul had 31 points for the Hornets, while David West, returning from back spasms that sidelined him five games, had 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Monta hit a pair of free throws with 14.3 seconds left.
Bulls 109, Kings 88
In Sacramento, Calif., Ben Gordon and Luol Deng each scored 20 points and Chicago won at Arco Arena for the first time since 1997.
After their fifth straight loss Sunday in Minnesota to start a seven-game trip, the Bulls have won two in a row.
Joakim Noah had 17 points for Chicago and rookie point guard Derrick Rose had 11 assists.
Kevin Martin scored 27 points for the Kings, who have lost eight straight.
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