Another fourth quarter off for LeBron James, who is going to have trouble winning a scoring title when he never gets to play the last 12 minutes.
No rest, though, for Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, who had to work overtime – two of them – to lead San Antonio over Dallas 133-126.
James scored 31 points and became Cleveland’s career steals leader, Zydrunas Ilgauskas moved atop the team’s rebounding chart, and the Cavaliers improved to 12-0 at home with a 114-94 romp over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.
The Cavaliers, 17-1 since Nov. 3, became the first team in league history to win nine consecutive games in a single season by at least 12 points. Cleveland came in tied with Portland (1990-91), Chicago (1996-97), Detroit (2003-04) and Houston (2007-08).
“That’s unbelievable,” said James, the NBA’s No. 2 scorer who sat out the fourth quarter for the sixth time in seven games. “Knowing the history of some of the great teams, the Chicago Bulls team that went 72-10, the Celtics teams, the Lakers teams and the Pistons teams, it’s unbelievable for our franchise to accomplish something like that.”
gton 107, Detroit 94; Utah 99, Minnesota 96; Chicago 105, New York 100; Houston 92, Atlanta 84; Phoenix 125, Milwaukee 110; Orlando 109, Portland 108; and Sacramento 113, the Los Angeles Lakers 101.
In San Antonio, Duncan scored eight of his 32 points in the decisive second extra period, and Parker added 29 points and 10 assists.
“The trite comment that either team could have won is absolutely true,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We’re thrilled to get it done in the end. For the most part these games go down to the wire. There’s a lot of respect, a lot of competitiveness.”
Bruce Bowen’s 3-pointer with 1:47 left in a second overtime put the Spurs ahead for good in their seventh victory in nine games.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 35 points and Jason Kidd added a season-high 24 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds as the Mavs lost only their second in 11 games. They also had a five-game home winning streak snapped.
The loss also came the same day they learned Josh Howard, their second-leading scorer and rebounder, would be out indefinitely because of an ankle injury that already kept him out of the previous eight games.
“It’s tough, especially the way we have been playing,” Kidd said. “If we play like we did tonight, we can win a lot of games.”
1.5 points.
“We’re on the list of teams where LeBron doesn’t even have to play in the fourth quarter,” Raptors interim coach Jay Triano said. “They’re running teams out.”
Ilgauskas had 13 points and surpassed Brad Daugherty (5,227) as Cleveland’s career rebound leader when he picked up a loose ball with 2:01 left before halftime.
Kings 113, Lakers 101
At Sacramento, Calif., Francisco Garcia and John Salmons scored 21 points apiece, and the Kings snapped an eight-game losing streak with one of the NBA’s most improbable results of the young season.
Kobe Bryant scored 28 points on 9-of-25 shooting and Pau Gasol had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who had won three straight while opening the season 17-2, matching the best start in franchise history.
Jazz 99, Timberwolves 96
At Minneapolis, Mehmet Okur hit the go-ahead shot with 1.7 seconds to play and Utah capitalized on 16 missed free throws by Minnesota in Kevin McHale’s season debut as Timberwolves coach.
Al Jefferson led Minnesota with 21 points. Ronnie Brewer scored 25 points for the Jazz on the 20th anniversary of Jerry Sloan’s promotion to head coach.
Suns 125, Bucks 110
e longest active streak.
Charlie Villanueva scored 24 points, Michael Redd had 23 and Richard Jefferson added 22 for Milwaukee, which has lost six of its last eight games.
Wizards 107, Pistons 94
At Washington, Caron Butler scored 33 points, and the Wizards got a strong effort from their reserves to overcome a miserable start and rally past Detroit’s redesigned lineup.
Richard Hamilton scored a season-high 29 points, Rasheed Wallace added 19, and new starting point guard Rodney Stuckey had 10 points and 11 assists for the Pistons, who dropped to 7-9 since the trade for Allen Iverson.
Magic 109, Trail Blazers 108
At Portland, Ore., Hedo Turkoglu banked in a 3-pointer with less than one second remaining, and Orlando rallied from a late eight-point deficit.
Portland, which fell to 15-8 and into a first-place tie with Denver in the Northwest Division, was led by Brandon Roy, who scored a season-high 30 points.
Rockets 92, Hawks 84
At Houston, Yao Ming scored 24 points and grabbed a season-high 19 rebounds, and the Rockets rallied in the fourth quarter to hand the Hawks their 10th consecutive loss in Houston.
Bulls 105, Knicks 100
At Chicago, Larry Hughes hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 55 seconds to go, and Drew Gooden had a season-high 22 points and 16 rebounds.
Al Harrington shot 13-for-21 from the field and finished with 28 points to lead the Knicks. Chris Duhon scored 15, had 14 assists and grabbed nine rebounds in his return to the United Center.
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