Cavs trump Bucks

Cleveland's James scores 41 points, 12 in fourth quarter

LeBron James matched a season high with 41 points, finally putting Milwaukee away with a steal and soaring dunk in the final minutes, and Mo Williams scored 16 against his former team as the Cleveland Cavaliers won their fifth straight, 99-93 over the visiting Bucks on Tuesday night.

James scored 12 in the fourth quarter and didn't come out in the second half while playing a season-high 43 minutes.

With Cleveland leading by five, James poked away a pass intended for Richard Jefferson, streaked to the other end and lifted off one step inside the foul line before smashing the ball through the hoop. Moments later, he dropped an outside jumper and then drove through the lane for a finger roll to give the Cavs an 11-point lead.

ALSO TUESDAY

NUGGETS 88, BOBCATS 80: Carmelo Anthony scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half, Chauncey Billups added a key three-point play late, and visiting Denver held off Charlotte to stay unbeaten with Billups in the lineup.

After an 11-point fourth-quarter lead was sliced to 75-73, the undermanned Nuggets turned to Billups and their defense. Charlotte went six straight possessions without a point, while Billups found Nene for a thunderous dunk before Billups' driving layup and free throw on the next possession made it 80-73 with 2:56 left.

Jason Richardson scored 23 points to lead the sloppy Bobcats.

JAZZ 93, 76ERS 80: Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 16 rebounds and Deron Williams played for the first time this season to lead Utah past host Philadelphia.

Andre Miller scored 25 points, Andre Iguodala had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Elton Brand added 13 for the reeling Sixers, who lost their third in a row and fell to 2-5.

SPURS 92, KNICKS 80: Tim Duncan had 23 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists to lead San Antonio over visiting New York in the Spurs' first game without injured guard Tony Parker.

Rookie George Hill started in place of Parker and scored a season-high 12 points.

LAKERS 106, MAVERICKS 99: Trevor Ariza turned an offensive rebound into an emphatic, go-ahead dunk early in the fourth quarter and Kobe Bryant quickly stretched the lead, sending visiting Los Angeles to victory over Dallas.

Dallas' Jason Kidd got the 101st triple-double of his career with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

HAWKS 113, BULLS 108: Al Horford scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as Atlanta remained unbeaten through six games with a victory over host Chicago.

Atlanta's start is its best since the 1997-98 Hawks won their first 11 games.

Mike Bibby added 22 points, hitting three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to fend off a Bulls rally.

The Hawks had six players in double figures, including Johnson, who finished with 17 -- eight below his average. He shot 4-for-16.

Rookie Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 26 points to match his career high and had a career-best 10 rebounds.

LATE MONDAY

SUNS 107, GRIZZLIES 102: Leandro Barbosa scored 16 of his team-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 43.8 seconds left, and host Phoenix withstood a furious fourth- quarter rally to beat Memphis.

The Grizzlies had rallied from a 17-point third-quarter deficit and led 102-100 on Rudy Gay's dunk off an offensive rebound with 1:30 remaining.

But Barbosa sank his second 3-pointer of the game to give Phoenix a 103-102 lead.