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Cavs continue to hold court against Heat

By NBA.com staff reports
Posted Mar 8 2009 5:53PM

If you're a Cleveland opponent in the near future and the Cavs are coming off a loss, recent trends show us that beating LeBron James and Co. will be a tough go. It's been even tougher to do so in Quicken Loans Arena.

One night after losing to the Celtics on the road, the Cavs knocked off the Heat 99-89 at home on Saturday, improving to a league-best 13-2 in back-to-back games and 12-1 following a loss.

James and Dwyane Wade didn't duplicate the two-man showdown from earlier this week because James didn't need to take it there. Mo Williams led the Cavs with 29 points as Cleveland pushed its home record to 28-1.

"Mo's a great player," said James, who finished with 14 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, his fourth triple-double of the season. "It's no surprise to us what he can do out there. It's kind of surprising to you guys because you're not used to having two guys put up these kind of numbers on the same [Cleveland] team. It's been a while, since what, Brad Daugherty and Mark Price?"

The bad news for the Heat is that they lost the sixth of the last seven meetings with Cleveland. Wade, who finished with 25 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, didn't make matters easier to swallow after suffering his first career ejection in the final minute of the game.

"We felt we got some bad calls," Wade said calmly after the game. "Tempers got hot. I felt I got fouled and there was no call. So my temper got hot. I deserved the tech. That's it."

Saturday's Scores
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Atlanta 87, Detroit 83
Cleveland 99, Miami 89
Charlotte 114, New York 105
Philadelphia 110, Memphis 105
New Orleans 108, Oklahoma City 90
Dallas 119, Washington 103
Milwaukee 127, Golden State 120
Portland 95, Minnesota 91
L.A. Clippers 106, Indiana 105

Saturday's Stars

• Richard Jefferson, Bucks, had a season-high 35 points and Milwaukee held off a big rally to beat the Golden State Warriors 127-120.

• Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, Mavericks. Nowitzki scored 34 points and Terry equaled a season high with 33 as Dallas beat Washington 119-103.

• Mo Williams, Cavaliers, scored 12 of his 29 points in the final 7:12 as Cleveland topped Miami 99-89.

• Brandon Roy, Trail Blazers, scored 31 points as Portland held on for a 95-93 victory over Minnesota.

• Jarret Jack, Pacers, scored nine of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and made a key steal in the final seconds, leading Indiana past the Los Angeles Clippers 106-105.

• Chris Paul, Hornets, had 21 points, 13 assists and six steals as New Orleans won its seventh straight game, beating Oklahoma City 108-90.

Strong in Defeat

Mike Conley scored 31 points and Marc Gasol had 30 -- both career highs -- but Memphis lost to Philadelphia 110-105 on Saturday night. ... Golden State got 23 points and 11 assists from Stephen Jackson, and 22 points from Corey Maggette in their returns from injuries, but the Warriors lost at Milwaukee 127-120.

Streaks

Julian Wright tied a career high with 20 points as the New Orleans Hornets won their seventh straight game, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-90 on Saturday night. ... Charlotte beat New York 114-105 for its franchise-record sixth straight victory. The Bobcats also equaled their franchise best with a fourth straight road win. ... Josh Smith scored 19 points and Al Horford added 18 -- and they each grabbed 12 rebounds -- to help Atlanta beat Detroit 87-83 and end the Pistons' four-game winning streak. ... Portland has won 11 straight at home and eight in a row over Minnesota.

Slumps

Minnesota lost its ninth straight game, falling 95-92 at Portland on Saturday night. The Timberwolves, with the fifth-worst record in the NBA, have lost 17 of their last 19. ... Dallas handed Washington its fifth straight loss, 119-103.

Stats

With an 87-83 win Saturday, Atlanta swept Detroit in the season series for the first time since 1993-94. The Hawks also improved to 27-6 when beginning the fourth with a lead, including 16-2 at home. Meanwhile, Detroit dropped to 7-22 this season when trailing after three quarters.

Sidelined

Memphis played the second half of its 110-105 loss to Philadelphia without Rudy Gay, who was poked in the right eye in the first half. That, along with an ankle injury to reserve point guard Marko Jaric, left the Grizzlies short-handed after halftime. ... Clippers rookie Eric Gordon had 35 points and six assists against his hometown team after missing four games with a bruised left shoulder, but Los Angeles lost to Indiana 106-105.

Speaking

"We can't sit there and give our fans cardiac arrest. It seems like we've got the game won, we're cruising. The next thing you know, they bang down a couple of 3s and they're back in the game. We can't allow that to happen. We've got to put our foot down and keep teams down."
-- Milwaukee's Charlie Bell after the Bucks needed a late rally to beat Golden State 127-120 on Saturday night.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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