CLEVELAND - LeBron James scored 38 points, harassed Paul Pierce all over the floor and strengthened his case to be the league's MVP front-runner as the Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 19-0 at home by beating the staggering Boston Celtics 98-83 Friday night in a game oozing with postseason intensity.

James scored 23 in the second half. He added seven rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks.

After the Cavs had built their lead to a comfortable 20 points in the second half, Cleveland fans began chanting "M-V-P!"

With James leading the way, the Cavaliers handed the Celtics their second-worst loss of the season and dropped them to 2-7 since opening 27-2.

Pierce, who came in averaging 19.5 points, was held to 11 on 4-of-15 shooting. Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 15 rebounds, and Rajon Rondo added 13 assists for the Celtics, who shot only 41 percent from the floor and didn't have their usual swagger.

Lakers 121, Pacers 119

LOS ANGELES - Kobe Bryant made a tiebreaking jumper with 3 seconds left and scored the Lakers' last 11 points, giving Los Angeles a 121-119 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.

Bryant finished with 36 points and 13 assists. After his turnaround jumper, the Pacers took a timeout but were unable to get off a shot before the final buzzer.

The Lakers improved their home record to 19-2 and remained tied with Cleveland for the best overall record in the league at 29-6. The Cavaliers beat Boston 98-83 in Cleveland earlier Friday to improve their home mark to 19-0.

The Pacers' Danny Granger scored 28 points before fouling out with 47 seconds remaining. Troy Murphy had 24 and Mike Dunleavy, whose 3-pointer with 27 seconds left drew the Pacers even at 119, finished with 22 points.

Pau Gasol had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, and Andrew Bynum had 20 points.

Pistons 93, Nuggets 90

DENVER - Tayshaun Prince hit a running jumper with 20 seconds left, Aaron Afflalo hit six straight free throws after that, and Detroit overcame 30 points by Chauncey Billups to get the win in Allen Iverson's return to the Mile High city.

Iverson, making his first appearance in Denver since being traded to Detroit for Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb on Nov. 3, led the Pistons with 23 points - 20 in the second half.

Prince hit a running 10-footer with 20 seconds left to give Detroit its first lead of the game. On the ensuing possession, McDyess, who was bought out by the Nuggets after the trade, stripped J.R. Smith with 10.5 seconds left.

Smith had a chance to tie the game with three free throws with 5.5 seconds left, but he missed the first one before hitting the next two.

Heat 119, Kings 115, OT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Dwyane Wade scored nine of his 41 points in overtime to help Miami outlast Sacramento.

Wade scored the final five points in overtime for the Heat, who had dropped three of four games. Relentless no matter who was covering him, Wade made 11 of 26 shots and 18 of 24 free throws. Wade also had five rebounds and seven assists.

Wade went down hard on a flagrant foul by Spencer Hawes in overtime. After lying under the basket for over a minute, Wade got up and made one of two free throws for a 112-110 lead at the 2:01 mark.

Kevin Martin and John Salmons scored 29 points for the Kings, who had a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter but have now lost five straight and 11 of 12.

Suns 128, Mavericks 100

PHOENIX - Shaquille O'Neal had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Phoenix used a third-quarter scoring deluge to bury Dallas.

Jason Richardson added 21 points and Leandro Barbosa had 20 in the Suns' highest-scoring game of the season.

The Suns outscored the Mavs 40-19 in the third, a Phoenix season high in scoring for a quarter, to turn the game into a rout. Phoenix made 13 of its first 15 shots in the second half and finished the third quarter 17-for-22. The 40 points were the most allowed by Dallas in a quarter this season.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 for Dallas, and Josh Howard had 16 before departing with a sprained left wrist in the third quarter. X-rays were negative.

Amare Stoudemire scored 16 in Phoenix's fourth win in five games. Grant Hill added 10 points, eight in the third quarter, as the Suns shot 63 percent for the night. Steve Nash had nine points and 12 assists. O'Neal, 7-for-7 at the foul line for the game, scored 19 in the first half.

Bucks 104, Nets 102

MILWAUKEE - Luke Ridnour's 5-foot floater with 0.5 seconds left lifted the Bucks to a victory over New Jersey in the first meeting between the teams since a draft day trade sent Richard Jefferson to Milwaukee for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons.

Simmons, who finished with 15 points, made a 3-pointer with 9 seconds left that tied it at 102 as he gestured toward the Bucks' bench after the shot.

But on the next possession, Ridnour got a screen and Simmons slipped to the floor rotating on defense, giving the point guard the lane for the easy floater that rolled around the rim before falling in for the victory.

Jefferson struggled in his first game against the team he spent seven years with, finishing 3-of-15 from the field for 13 points.

Yi scored 16 points, but left late in the third quarter after injuring his right hand.

Raptors 103, Grizzlies 82

TORONTO - Chris Bosh had 32 points and 10 rebounds and Andrea Bargnani added 21 points.

Bosh shot 11-for-13 from the field and 10-for-12 from the line to help Toronto pull away in the fourth quarter and extend its home winning streak to a season-high three games.

Bargnani is averaging 21.7 points as a starter in the past six games in place of the injured Jermaine O'Neal.

Rudy Gay scored 22 points for Memphis, which has lost 11 of 13. The Grizzlies have been held under 90 five time in the past six games.

Hakim Warrick scored 18 and Kyle Lowry added 12 for Memphis, which has lost five straight on the road. The Grizzlies are 2-15 away from home.

Magic 121, Hawks 87

ORLANDO, Fla. - Hedo Turkoglu hit all five 3-point attempts, scoring 21 points in a game Orlando led by 38 at halftime.

Dwight Howard added 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Magic enjoyed their best offensive night, start-to-finish, this season. J.J. Redick added 15 points and Jameer Nelson had 14 points and nine assists in Orlando's 11th straight home victory.

Acie Law scored 16 points and fellow reserve Solomon Jones added 12 for Atlanta. Joe Johnson had 11 points and was the only Hawks starter to reach double figures.

The game was decided early and decisively when the Magic ran off a season-high 41 points in the first quarter and tied their season high for a half. The Magic held the Hawks to just 25 percent shooting over the first two quarters (10-of-40) and led 71-33 by halftime.

76ers 93, Bobcats 87

PHILADELPHIA - Andre Miller scored 22 points, Thaddeus Young had 15 and the Philadelphia 76ers won their third straight game.

The Sixers have rapidly put a dreary road trip behind them and won their third game this week to get out of last place in the Atlantic Division and into the Eastern Conference playoff race.

They beat the Rockets, won at Milwaukee, then used a 14-2 run in the third quarter Friday night to pull away from the Bobcats.

Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams each scored 12 points and the Sixers had the fast-break edge, 20-4.

Emeka Okafor had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Bobcats.

Bulls 98, Wizards 86

CHICAGO - Ben Gordon scored 22 points and Chicago hung on after watching a 21-point lead dwindle to seven in the fourth quarter.

The Bulls spent most of the night picking on the Eastern Conference's worst team, then hung on after a defensive lapse allowed the Wizards to get back into the game.

Chicago led 78-57 early in the fourth before Washington made its move. The Wizards were within 89-82 after Antawn Jamison's layup with just under three minutes left, but Gordon answered with one of his own and the Bulls hung on.

The Wizards lost despite getting a career-high 28 points on 12-for-15 shooting from Nick Young.

Rockets 98, Thunder 96

OKLAHOMA CITY - Tracy McGrady scored 26 points and made two critical free throws with 8.2 seconds left to help Houston win its second straight road game.

McGrady, who had missed two of the Rockets' previous three games due to a left knee injury, helped extend Houston's winning streak over the Thunder franchise to 10 straight games, including seven when they played in Seattle.

The Rockets, coming off a win at defending NBA champion Boston, overcame a quiet night from Yao Ming, who went 3-of-10 from the field and scored 14 points.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 27 points.

Hornets 107, Clippers 80

NEW ORLEANS - Rasual Butler scored a season-high 27 points, and New Orleans handed the Los Angeles Clippers their 10th straight loss.

Butler hit six 3-pointers, also a season high, as the Hornets made 11 3s and had seven players score in double figures. Tyson Chandler had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Hornets, dunking three times on alley-oop feeds from Chris Paul. James Posey had 16 points and Paul, who played only 29 minutes, had 10.

Eric Gordon and Mardy Collins each scored 15 points for the Clippers, who have lost their last eight meetings with New Orleans. Marcus Camby had 13 points and 17 rebounds.