Cleveland ? A bruised shin didn’t stop LeBron James from leading the Cavaliers out of a slump or cheerfully singing in the locker room afterward.

James scored 26 points and got enough help from his teammates to lead Cleveland past the Denver Nuggets, 94-85, Thursday night.

James bruised his left shin and hobbled to the locker room with 29 seconds left in the first half. He came back with the shin wrapped for support.

He also got support from Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall.

Jones scored 17 points and Marshall 11. Both hit big three-pointers as the Cavaliers ended a three-game losing streak.

“Huge win,” Marshall said. “You always want to come out of a slump. It’s better to come out of a slump against a good team that’s playing well.”

The Nuggets had won four of five, and Carmelo Anthony was coming off a career-high 42 points in a victory over Charlotte on Tuesday night. Anthony scored 23 to lead Denver but shot just 8-of-23.

Greg Buckner added 15 points and Earl Watson 14 for the Nuggets, who shot 38 percent to Cleveland’s 53 percent.

“We got stops and made shots when it counted,” James said. “When you hold a team to 38 percent from the field you give yourself a pretty good chance of winning.”

James ended a stretch of six games with 30 or more points. That could be good news for the Cavaliers, who went 1-5 with him carrying the load.

James, who declared that the team was in a funk following Tuesday night’s loss to Atlanta, added nine assists, including a no-look pass to Alan Henderson that thrilled the crowd.

Rockets 104, SuperSonics 98

Seattle – Tracy McGrady took over down the stretch, scoring 14 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, and Houston won its fifth straight game. A night after playing nearly 46 minutes in an overtime win at Golden State, McGrady played all but 18 seconds, as the Rockets improved to 4-0 on their six-game road trip.

Spurs 90, Timberwolves 88

Minneapolis – Michael Finley scored 21 points, including the last six for San Antonio, to help the Spurs hold off Minnesota. Kevin Garnett got the best of Tim Duncan with 24 points and a season-high 21 rebounds, but the Timberwolves dropped their third straight game when Troy Hudson’s off-balance, running jumper in traffic at the buzzer fell short.