Around the NBA: Cavaliers with 12th in a row, reach 60 victories

Around the NBA: Cavaliers with 12th in a row, reach 60 victories

LeBron James had 24 points and 12 assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers extending their winning streak to a franchise record 12 with a 102-74 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

The victory improved the Cavaliers' franchise-record victory total to 60 with nine games remaining. They stretched their lead to two games over the Los Angeles Lakers in the race for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Cavaliers trailed 35-20 in the first quarter and 49-47 at halftime. But Cleveland outscored Dallas 30-11 in the third quarter and 55-25 in the second half to improve to a league-best 35-1 at home.

Hornets 90, Spurs 86: Chris Paul hit three clutch free throws with 7.1 seconds left, as host New Orleans pulled out the victory and moved into a tie for sixth with Utah in the Western Conference. The Spurs' lead over Houston and Denver for second place was trimmed to a half-game.

Hawks 86, Lakers 76: Mike Bibby scored 21 points — including a three-pointer off the top of the backboard — and host Atlanta took advantage of a tough outing for Kobe Bryant and held Los Angeles to its lowest-scoring game of the season.

Bryant, who missed a morning meal and film session because he wasn't feeling well, had 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting.

Kings 126, Suns 118: Phoenix's playoff hopes took a hit as it lost to the worst team in
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the league, blowing a chance to move a game closer to eighth-place Dallas.

The Suns went 0-3 on this trip and have lost eight of their past nine away from home. The Suns have eight games remaining, including four of their final six on the road.

Pistons 101, 76ers 97: Allen Iverson returned after missing 16 games because of a back injury and scored eight points in 21 minutes of Detroit's victory. After the game, he acknowledged being hurt by media reports that he might not play again this season.

"The one thing that everyone has always known about me is that I'm a warrior. The doctors would say I'd be out two to four weeks, and I'd come back in a week," he said. "So now I have an injury I've never had before — one that was bothering me — and people are suddenly questioning my courage. That was hard, but I know positive stories don't sell.

"If you can come up with a negative story about Allen Iverson, it will sell, so that's what people rolled with."

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