LeBRON James scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers humbled the Los Angeles Lakers 102-87 with home fans throwing items on the court and booing the NBA champions after the defeat.

The Cavaliers snapped an 11-game home win streak for the Lakers whose brief rally late in the second quarter was the only meaningful solid stretch of play in a Christmas fiasco that dropped them level with Boston at an NBA best 23-5.

A showcase match-up of two teams that could meet again in June’s NBA Finals was seen as a game to send message about which superstar-powered squad was the best. James and the Cavs clearly outshined Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

“It was a good performance by us,” James said. “Defensively we did a good job not relying on just one guy to get it done.”

Mo Williams scored 28 points and former Lakers star Shaquille O’Neal added 11 points for the Cavaliers, who left Los Angeles players frustrated, prompting technical fouls and physical fouls from the Lakers as they were outplayed.

Lamar Odom was ejected with just over four minutes remaining, prompting spectators to hurl the foam hand-shaped holiday giveaway souvenirs onto the court.

After 20 more seconds and another foul, more souvenirs and a water bottle were thrown onto the court as the unhappy crowd unleashed their frustrations.

The Cavaliers opened a 44-25 lead, hitting 64 percent from the field and holding firm on defence in the opening series and never letting the Lakers claw their way all the way back into the game.

“We were just covering for each other all night on the defensive end,” James said. “We just slowed down and executed the right way.”

Bryant scored a game-high 35 points but Ron Artest, humbled trying to defend James, managed only 13 points and Spanish star Pau Gasol added 11 for the Lakers.

Rajon Rondo scored 17 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and eight assists while Boston’s defence kept Orlando to a season-low for points in an 86-77 victory.

But a late-game stumble by Kevin Garnett threatened to steal the joy from a Christmas triumph by inflicting yet another injury upon the Celtics.

A Boston club playing without Paul Pierce due to a right knee injury also lost Garnett late in the game when he leaped to block a Vince Carter shot, fell awkwardly to the court, then rose and hobbling to the bench holding his back.

Garnett, who missed his first game of the season on Tuesday with a thigh bruise, had 10 points and seven rebounds and Celtics coach Doc Rivers said all that was sore with Garnett was a bruise on his head.

Ray Allen scored 18 points and Tony Allen, replacing Pierce in Boston’s line-up, added 16 as the Celtics improved to 23-5 with their 14th triumph in 15 games.

“This was definitely a benchmark game for us because we have been talking about this game for a long time,” Allen said. “We did what we had to do and took care of the game.”

Carter scored a game-high 27 points in a losing cause while Rashard Lewis notched 19 points and Frenchman Mickael Pietrus added nine for the Magic, who fell to 22-8, still one game ahead of Atlanta atop the Southeast division.

Magic All-Star centre Dwight Howard, who pulled down 20 rebounds, was kept to only five points.

“You’ve got to play him physical. You watch other teams around the league, they pretty much let him set up shop,” Boston centre Kendrick Perkins said. “You’ve just got to go in and be prepared to go to war. You’ve got to fight him first, hit him first.

“He likes to be physical but he doesn’t like anyone to be physical with him.”

Orlando, who had won seven of the past 10 meetings with Boston, trimmed the deficit to 78-75 before Allen’s jumper and two free throws pushed the Celtics out of range for good.

“It wasn’t the prettiest ball,” Rivers said. “It was ugly ball. I don’t necessarily think it was bad basketball, but two teams playing extremely hard and great defence.”

The match-up between the two top clubs in the Eastern Conference was among five Christmas Day games on the NBA schedule, something that irked Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy.

“I actually feel sorry for people who have nothing to do on Christmas Day other than watch an NBA game,” Van Gundy said. “If I had my way, we’d take a five-day break at Christmas.

“Obviously basketball is very important to me, but there are some days of the year where it’s got to take a back seat to something.”

Dwyane Wade scored 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds to spark the Miami Heat past New York 93-87, snapping the Knicks’ three-game win streak.

Wade, ranked fifth among NBA scorers with 26.6 points a game, scored 10 points in the third quarter to give Miami a 64-54 edge and the Heat held off a late New York rally for the Christmas Day victory, improving to 15-12.

Michael Beasley scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and Jermaine O’Neal added 11 points and eight rebounds for Miami, sinking a key jumper in the final seconds after the Knicks had trimmed the Heat’s edge to three points.

Italy’s Danilo Gallinari scored 26 points and David Lee contributed 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks, who had a season-low 11 assists in sliding to 11-18, losing for only the third time in 10 games. (Yahoo Sport)