Boston — Zydrunas Ilgauskas made the game-winner. LeBron James made it possible.
One game after scoring a career-high 43 points, James had a mere 20 but also added eight assists and a last-second blocked shot to help the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics, 98-96, Friday night.
"This is my game," he said after drawing a double-team and feeding Ilgauskas for the go-ahead jumper with 20 seconds left. "I'm not going to force a shot. If I have the ball at the end of the game, I can make a play, and I don't have to shoot."
Drew Gooden had 27 points, and Ilgauskas had 26 with eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who won for the eighth time in nine games. Paul Pierce had 25, and Gary Payton scored 14 with 10 assists for Boston, which has lost three in a row since its surprising victory over the NBA-leading Seattle SuperSonics.
Boston scored 16 straight points to take an 83-75 lead, but the Cavs tied it 94-all with 1:31 left and then took the lead when a heavily guarded James muscled in a layup with 50 seconds to play.
Payton tied it for Boston, then James fed Ilgauskas for a 16-footer from the left side.
"He was giving it up and making them pay, and that's what's most important," Cleveland coach Paul Silas said. "And if he keeps doing that it's going to be hard to double-team (him) because he's going to make everybody else better. And that's what super players are supposed to do."
On the Celtics' last chance, Pierce drove but had his pass knocked out of bounds. Pierce got the ball back but fired up an off-balance shot from the top of the key that was tipped by James.
"This is one of those games I felt like I let the team down," Pierce said. "There are going to be other times, but I'll lift the team up more than I'll let it down."
Cleveland's Drew Gooden, right, drives to the basket past Boston's Al Jefferson (8) and Walter McCarty. Gooden scored 27 points in the Cavaliers' 98-96 victory Friday night in Boston.
Kings 109, Lakers 106
Los Angeles -- Peja Stojakovic scored 26 points and made four consecutive free throws in the closing seconds, leading Sacramento to its seventh straight victory.
Sonics 92, Nets 79
Seattle -- Danny Fortson came off the bench to score a season-high 20 points, leading Seattle.
Clippers 98, Warriors 87
Oakland, Calif. -- Bobby Simmons scored 17 points and had a career-high 12 rebounds, leading Los Angeles.
Suns 95, Hornets 86
Phoenix -- Shawn Marion had a season-high 33 points and 15 rebounds, leading Phoenix past New Orleans. The victory was Phoenix's seventh straight, its longest streak since winning seven in a row twice in 2000-01. Phoenix overcame the loss of NBA assists leader Steve Nash, who received a concussion with 3:46 left in the second quarter.
Jazz 90, Rockets 80
Salt Lake City -- Andrei Kirilenko had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Memhet Okur shot 8-for-8 in scoring a season-high 20 points, leading Utah over Houston.
Spurs 89, Nuggets 75
Denver -- Tim Duncan had 23 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks, helping San Antonio snap Denver's four-game winning streak. Duncan scored 19 of his points in the first half while the Spurs were building their double-digit lead. He took advantage of the absence of Kenyon Martin, who started and played the first six minutes, but sat out the rest of the game because of the flu.
Pistons 78, Heat 77
Auburn Hills, Mich. -- Richard Hamilton caught an inbounds pass under the basket and banked in a short shot with 1.3 seconds left, giving Detroit a win over Miami. The Heat lost for the first time in nine games against Eastern opponents.
Pacers 82, Bobcats 77
Indianapolis -- Fred Jones scored eight of his 23 points in the final 2:30, rallying Indiana from a six-point deficit against Charlotte.
Magic 117, Hawks 99
Atlanta -- Steve Francis scored 29 points, and No. 1 draft pick Dwight Howard added a career-high 24 in his homecoming as Orlando beat Atlanta. Howard, who grew up in Atlanta, had several hundred fans sitting in club-level seats behind the Magic bench as he pulled down nine rebounds.
T'wolves 115, Grizzlies 90
Minneapolis -- Lionel Hollins lost his debut as interim coach of the Grizzlies, with Kevin Garnett getting 26 points and 15 rebounds and Latrell Sprewell adding 22 points to lead Minnesota over Memphis. The Timberwolves had their highest scoring output of the season as well as a season-low nine turnovers in snapping a two-game losing streak.
76ers 116, Wizards 114, OT
Philadelphia -- Allen Iverson stole an inbound pass, drove down the court and made a layup at the buzzer, giving Philadelphia an overtime victory over Washington. Iverson finished with 28 points and 13 assists.
Mavericks 92, Blazers 83
Dallas -- Marquis Daniels had a block, a steal and three straight assists in a just more than a two-minute span in the fourth quarter, helping lead Dallas past Portland to end a three-game losing streak.
Late Thursday game
Clippers 101, Nets 88
Los Angeles -- Marko Jaric scored 23 points to lead Los Angeles' balanced scoring, and the Clippers beat New Jersey to run the Nets' losing streak to seven games.
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