Cleveland ? Jeff McInnis gave LeBron James all the credit for setting up his shots during a late scoring spree.

“I just love playing with him,” McInnis said. “He made some passes where I’ve just got to look at the tape to see them again.”

McInnis scored six points — including a shot he “just threw in the air and it went in,” in a 47-second span in the final minutes — to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 100-91 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday night.

James came within one rebound of his first career triple-double with 22 points and a career-high 14 assists.

“If we had lost, it would have made me mad,” said James, who had nine rebounds with 9:59 to play — then didn’t have another missed shot bounce his way.

“It just wasn’t meant to be, but I’m happy because we got the win,” he said.

Former Kansas University standout Drew Gooden had 18 points and 18 rebounds — his 13th double-double of the season — while McInnis finished with 16 points and 10 assists for Cleveland, which improved to 11-2 at home and handed the Hornets their 12th consecutive road loss.

Lee Nailon scored 18 points against his former team to lead New Orleans. Hornets rookie Matt Freije had season highs of 12 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

McInnis’ three-point play with 2:16 left put Cleveland ahead to stay. He hit a running 16-footer, was fouled by Baron Davis and sank the free throw for a 92-89 lead.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Drew Gooden puts up a shot between New Orleans Hornets forward P.J. Brown, right, and forward Matt Freije. Gooden, a former Kansas University standout, scored 18 points and grabbed 18 rebounds as the Cavs won, 100-91, Sunday in Cleveland.

“I knew there was contact, and I was going to go to the line, so I just threw the ball at the basket,” McInnis said. “I was surprised it went in.”

Gooden then rebounded a miss by Nailon and triggered a Cleveland break. James passed to McInnis open on the right wing, and he swished a three-pointer for a 95-89 advantage.

James, four days shy of his 20th birthday, again flirted with becoming the youngest NBA player to get a triple-double. Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Clippers was 20 years, 54 days old when he became the youngest to do it on Dec. 30, 1999 — which also was James’ 15th birthday.

The Hornets’ Baron Davis, in his second game since missing 19 because of an inflamed disk in his lower back, had 14 points in 19 minutes, hitting four of seven shots from three-point range.

“I’m not even close to where I want to be, no lift to my legs,” Davis said. “I’m just out there playing about 50, 60 percent.”

Davis’ shooting helped the Hornets as the teams exchanged wild momentum swings in the second half.

New Orleans opened the third quarter with a 14-0 run to take a 56-53 lead. The Cavaliers quickly countered with an 11-0 run that included breakaway dunks by James and Anderson Varejao for a 69-60 lead.

The Hornets went back ahead 76-73 with a 10-0 run over the third and fourth quarters.

Cleveland went 6:10 without a field goal until James scored on a layup with 8:16 left to bring the Cavaliers within 81-77.

“I saw us go down six, and it was time to go into attack mode,” James said.

At 16-11, the Cavaliers are two games up in the Central division. Second-place Detroit (13-12) was idle Sunday after beating Indiana on Christmas Day.

Spurs 107, Celtics 90

San Antonio — Tony Parker scored a season-high 27 points and San Antonio fended off a series of rallies by Boston.

Tim Duncan had 14 points and 11 rebounds to improve to 15-0 against the Celtics. Devin Brown added 17 points, including four three-pointers.

Ricky Davis led Boston with 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting, while former Kansas University standout Paul Pierce scored 16.

Knicks 91, Bobcats 82

New York — Tim Thomas scored 20 points to lead five New York starters in double figures.

New York played without Jamal Crawford, who was placed on injured reserve because of turf toe of his right foot, but several Knicks took turns filling in.

Emeka Okafor had 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Bobcats for his 15th straight double-double, the most in a row by a rookie since Shaquille O’Neal had 15 straight for Orlando during the 1992-93 season.

Bucks 99, Bulls 92

Milwaukee — Michael Redd scored 20 of his season-high 39 points in the first quarter to help snap the Bucks’ five-game losing streak.

Redd, who made eight of his first 11 shots, was 15-of-27 from the floor. Joe Smith added a season-high 21 points to go with nine rebounds for the Bucks.

Suns 106, Raptors 94

Phoenix — Amare Stoudemire scored 33 points, and Phoenix held off a strong Toronto comeback for its 11th consecutive victory.

The Suns won for the 20th time in 21 games to boost their NBA-best record to 24-3 and maintain their grip on first place in the Pacific Division.

Steve Nash had 18 points and 13 assists for Phoenix.

Timberwolves 109, Wizards 74

Minneapolis — Wally Szczerbiak’s 23 points led four starters in double figures for Minnesota.

Sam Cassell had 22 points, Kevin Garnett 18 and Latrell Sprewell 11 for the Timberwolves, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Minnesota has beaten the Wizards seven straight times.

Rockets 96, Clippers 79

Houston — Tracy McGrady and Jim Jackson each scored 21 points to help Houston win for the seventh time in 10 games.

Yao Ming had 20 points and 11 rebounds for his third straight double-double and team-high 11th of the season.

Mavs 102, Nuggets 88

Denver — Michael Finley hit three straight baskets during a key third-quarter run, and Dirk Nowitzki took over from there, scoring 25 of his 38 points in the second half to help Dallas rally for a victory over Denver.

Kings 98, Warriors 94

Sacramento — Jason Richardson scored all 26 of his points in the second half to lead Golden State past Sacramento.

The Warriors (9-18) have won two in a row, while Sacramento lost its second straight.