Cleveland ? LeBron James is playing for an NBA winner. Around here, that’s saying something.

James scored 33 points with 12 rebounds as the Cavaliers moved over .500 for the first time in more than three years with their fourth straight win, 99-88 over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 16 points — 10 in the fourth quarter — for the Cavaliers (4-3), who hadn’t had a winning record since Jan. 12, 2001, when they were 17-16.

James was a high school sophomore back then, but now he’s the NBA’s reigning rookie of the year, player of the week and league-leading scorer.

“That doesn’t mean a thing,” James said of the Cavaliers’ winning mark. “It’s the early season, so we can’t be worrying about that. We’ve got to win a lot more.”

But after losing 52, 53, 65 and 47 games the past four seasons with little more to look forward to than the NBA lottery, being above .500 was worth celebrating.

“It means a whole lot to me,” Cavs coach Paul Silas said. “We’re one game over, and we just have to keep this thing rolling.”

Ilgauskas scored his 10 points during Cleveland’s decisive fourth-quarter spurt that helped the Cavaliers open a six-point lead and put the Warriors away.

This was the type of game that a year ago the Cavaliers probably would have lost.

Cleveland's LeBron James, right, brushes past Goldon State's Derek Fisher in the third quarter of the Cavaliers' 99-88 victory. James had 33 points in the victory Monday in Cleveland.

“Ain’t no question,” James said. “I’m not sure why, but we would have.”

The Cavaliers were passive on offense in the first half, relying on jump shots and getting to the free-throw line just twice. But they became more aggressive after halftime, driving to the basket to pick up fouls and attempting 26 free throws in the final 24 minutes.

“We came together during a timeout in the third quarter and talked about keeping the energy,” said forward Drew Gooden, who added 13 rebounds. “That’s what allowed us to pull away.”

Jason Richardson matched a season high with 27 points for Golden State, which was within 84-81 with 7:50 to play on Derek Fisher’s three-pointer.

Rockets 80, Nets 69

East Rutherford, N.J. — Maurice Taylor, left on the court despite picking up three early fouls, made three straight shots to snap Houston out of an early offensive in a victory over New Jersey. The Rockets missed their first eight shots and fell behind 11-0 before Taylor, whose third foul came just 3:34 into the first quarter, scored Houston’s first six points.