CLEVELAND — They circled this game on their calendar months ago. On Friday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers checked it off as another win.
Their biggest in a season getting special.
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 Cavaliers, playing with a bottled-up intensity reserved for the playoffs, improved to 19-0 at home by beating the staggering Boston Celtics 98-83 on Friday night.
James scored 23 in the second half. He added seven rebounds, six assists, four steals, three blocks and made Pierce’s life miserable for 35 minutes.
After the Cavs had built their lead to a comfortable 20 points in the second half, Cleveland fans began chanting “M-V-P!”
There was no debate this night on who was the best player — or which was the better team.
“We want to continue to protect our home court and we want to continue to get better. Tonight I think we got better,” James said. “We don’t want to take a step back because we got a big picture and a big goal. You don’t want to waste a game. We got really better tonight.”
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 a league-record 27-2. Boston had to resort to fouling Ben Wallace to try to trim Cleveland’s lead in the fourth quarter, but the Hack-A-Ben strategy was hardly effective as Cleveland’s forward, a 44 percent free-throw shooter, made 5-of-10 free throws after being fouled on five straight possessions.
When he was taken out, Wallace shot a menacing stare toward Boston coach Doc Rivers, who pulled his starters with the outcome decided in the final minutes.
“We’re good,” Pierce said. “That’s the God’s honest truth. Nobody likes losing, but we’re going to stay positive. That’s our strength as a team.”
Pierce, who came in averaging 19.5 points, was held to 11 on 4-of-15 shooting. Boston’s leading scorer only got into double digits when James turned him over to Wally Szczerbiak in the fourth. Before that, James wouldn’t let Pierce get out of his sight, chasing up, down and around the 94-foot court.
James refused to take full credit for stopping Pierce, but he deserved it.
“You can’t continue to give him one look because of how good of a player he is,” James said. “My teammates did a good job of letting me know where they were behind me and helping me out. I didn’t do it by myself. It was a whole team concept.”
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.
“We have some money in the bank with the 19-game winning streak,” Rivers said. “We’re making a withdrawal we don’t want to make right now, but we’re still 29-9. This is a tough stretch. I don’t like it. But we’re going to right the ship. When? I don’t know.”
Anderson Varejao scored 14 points and Mo Williams 13 for Cleveland, which avenged a season-opening road loss to the Celtics despite playing without injured center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
The win was vital to the Cavaliers, who lost Game 7 in Boston in last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals and want to secure home-court advantage during the playoffs this season. The first tiebreaker if the teams end up with the same record is head-to-head matchups.
James scored 13 in the third quarter, but it was his swarming defense — especially on Pierce — that allowed the Cavaliers to take a 72-60 lead into the fourth.
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 victory over Indiana.
Pistons 93, Nuggets 90
DENVER — Tayshaun Prince hit a running jumper with 20 seconds remaining, 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.
Heat 119, Kings 115 (OT)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Dwyane Wade scored nine of his 41 points in overtime to help Miami outlast Sacramento.
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.
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.
Raptors 103, Grizzlies 82
TORONTO — Chris Bosh had 32 points and 10 rebounds and Andrea Bargnani added 21 points for Toronto.
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.
76ers 93, Bobcats 87
PHILADELPHIA — Andre Miller scored 22 points, Thaddeus Young had 15 and Philadelphia won its third straight game.
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.
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.
Hornets 107, Clippers 80
NEW ORLEANS — Rasual Butler scored a season-high 27 points, and New Orleans handed Los Angeles its 10th straight loss.
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