LeBron James shook off a slow start to carry the league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers past the Portland Trail Blazers with a 97-92 overtime victory on Thursday.
James, the leading candidate for the NBA MVP award, scored his team’s final six points in regulation and added another six during overtime in a vintage triple-double performance that included 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Cavaliers (55-13) retained their dominance of East and also tied an NBA record with just two turnovers for the game, a feat also achieved by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2006.
PHOTO: AP
“That was the difference in the game, amazing by our guys,” said Cavaliers coach Mike Brown, whose team improved to 31-1 at home.
Continuing his improved defense this season, James also added two blocks, including one on Travis Outlaw’s attempted three-pointer with a minute left in regulation.
“I know Brandon [Roy] is going to kick it to the corner, so I ran directly to Travis and got a good piece of the ball,” James told reporters. “I work hard on the defensive end every night. I take defense as serious as I take offense.”
The Trail Blazers trailed 74-66 with seven minutes left in the fourth, before an 8-0 run pulled them even.
All Star guard Roy led the way with 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, finishing a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe and nailing two free throws with three seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
Roy scored nine points in the last five minutes of regulation to keep his team close, but went scoreless as Cleveland controlled the extra session for their seventh straight win.
Outlaw also caught fire late and added 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter for Portland (43-26), which had a two-game winning streak snapped and fell into a tie for fifth place in the close Western Conference with 13 games remaining.
Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 21 points for the Cavaliers, who were without injured guard Wally Szczerbiak.
HAWKS 95, MAVERICKS 87
At Atlanta, Georgia, Joe Johnson scored 24 points and reserve Flip Murray had 19 as Atlanta downed Dallas for its seventh straight win.
The Hawks moved four games ahead of fifth-place Miami in the Eastern Conference standings.
Dallas, which has lost three of four to drop one-and-a-half behind seventh-place Utah in the Western Conference, but the Mavericks are still three-and-a-half ahead of Phoenix for the eighth and final playoff spot.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas, which was without two starters, swingman Josh Howard, (sore left ankle), and forward Erick Dampier, who has a swollen left knee and missed his first game of the season.
LAKERS 114, WARRIORS 106
At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol each scored 21 points as Los Angeles held off Golden State.
The victory was the Lakers’ 31st at home, eclipsing last season’s total and keeping them one game behind Cleveland for the NBA’s best record and home court advantage throughout the playoffs with 14 games remaining. The Cavaliers beat Portland 97-92 in overtime.
Monta Ellis scored 27 points and Kelenna Azubuike added 25 for the Warriors, who have lost 19 of their last 22 meetings with the Lakers and are 2-18 at Staples Center since the arena opened in 1999.
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