The Cleveland Cavaliers are two and a half games clear of Eastern Conference rivals the Toronto Raptors, who also won on Friday.The Cleveland Cavaliers showed they remain the team to beat in the Eastern Conference after eclipsing the Atlanta Hawks 110-108 in overtime on Friday.
LeBron James came up big for the Cavaliers, posting 29 points and 16 rebounds as he moved up to 11th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, surpassing Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.
`Cleveland’s back-to-back wins means they are still in pole position in the east, two and a half games clear of the Toronto Raptors, who edged the Memphis Grizzlies 99-95.
The Hawks, who outscored the Cavs in the third and fourth periods to force OT, were led by Paul Millsap’s double-double of 29 points and 12 rebounds, while Jeff Teague added 28 points.
DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry led the way for the Raptors in Memphis as the in-form Toronto franchise made it three wins in four games.
DeRozan had 27 points and Lowry chipped in with 22, while Terrence Ross scored all of his 12 points in the final quarter.
Zach Randolph had 16 points for the slumping Grizzlies, who suffered a fifth consecutive defeat.
The Golden State Warriors and their 54-game regular-season home winning streak was ended by the Boston Celtics, who stunned the defending NBA champions 109-106.
The Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks both had wins in the Western Conference.
Gordon Hayward’s 22 points led the Jazz past the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-85.
The Jazz remain eighth and clinging to a spot in the play-offs, behind the seventh-placed Mavericks, who accounted for the Detroit Pistons 98-89.
In other results, the Miami Heat almost coughed up a 24-point lead as they held on to beat the Sacramento Kings 112-106.
The Washington Wizards boosted their play-off hopes with a 106-99 win at the Phoenix Suns, the Charlotte Hornets downed the Philadelphia 76ers 100-91, the Orlando Magic fell 113-110 to the Milwaukee Bucks, while the New York Knicks upstaged rivals the Brooklyn Nets 105-91.