Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - LeBron James flirted with a triple-double with 22 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, leading Cleveland to its franchise-record 58th win on the year via a 98-87 drubbing of the Nets at Quicken Loans Arena in the back end of a home-and-home set.
Anderson Varejao chipped in 16 points and 11 boards for the Cavs, who won their 10th straight game. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mo Williams each had 16 points. Delonte West donated 13 points and nine boards in the win.
The Cavs, who have the best record in the NBA, are 33-1 at home this season and an NBA-leading 18-2 since the All-Star break, have won 10 straight at Quicken Loans Arena.
Vince Carter poured in 20 points for the Nets, who dropped their second consecutive game and sixth in eight tries. Jarvis Hayes tallied 18 points and Bobby Simmons 12 in defeat. Brook Lopez grabbed 10 boards to go with his nine points.
Keyon Dooling went for 11 points and 10 helpers for New Jersey, which sits 3 1/2 games behind Chicago for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
With the Nets trailing by four late in the game, Dooling failed to connect on a mid-range jumper, which led to James' two free throws that gave the Cavs an 88-82 cushion with 2:23 left.
Moments later, James hit Williams with a pass, and Williams nailed a three- pointer with 57.3 ticks left that ballooned Cleveland's advantage to 93-84.
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Carter missed a three on New Jersey's next touch and the Cavs held on from there.
The Cavs roughed up the Nets to the tune of 26-17 after the first quarter, but the visitors closed to 44-40 at the break.
A pair of layups from Ilgauskas gave the home team a 48-40 lead early in the third period.
Later in the third, West's steal led to Varejao's open-court dunk that extended Cleveland's cushion to 58-47.
New Jersey trailed, 68-60, after three quarters.
Cleveland's lead hovered around 10 points, before four points from Simmons, a Hayes three-pointer and a three-point play from Chris Douglas-Roberts tied it up at 72 with just under eight minutes left.
The teams traded baskets until West's three-ball and Varejao's layup put the Cavs up, 86-82, with 3:02 showing on the clock.
