CLEVELAND -- LeBron James arrived fashionably late Saturday night to his New York party.

He didn't need long to catch up.

James scored 47 points, including 24 straight for Cleveland in the first half, and the Cavaliers held off the Knicks 113-106 for their 11th straight victory.

"It's something that can't be explained," James said of his stunning streak. "It's a feeling I wish I could be in every game, but it's not possible. It was a great moment."

James, who historically has saved some of his best performances for the Knicks, set a franchise record with 35 points in the first half. He finished one point shy of his season high while adding eight rebounds and eight assists.

He needed just 5:29 to score 24 straight -- 16 in a row to end the first quarter and eight straight to start the second. He closed the first quarter with four 3-pointers in the final two minutes, including a pair from 32 feet in the final 37 seconds. He shot 8 of 11 for the quarter.

"You sometimes become a fan because he's taking 3-point shots way beyond the arc," New York's Chris Duhon said. "Sometimes you get star-struck and you just start to get in a daze."

James' final 3 of the first quarter, from the "A" in the Cavaliers' half-court logo, came at the buzzer. He celebrated by charging toward the fans and throwing open his arms as the sellout crowd inside the Q roared.

With James' free agency pending this summer and the woeful Knicks dreaming of him in New York blue and orange next season, the Knicks could only stand by and watch James embrace his hometown crowd.

"My God," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "He didn't even come close to missing."

James did not take part in pregame warmups, nor did he join his teammates on the floor for the national anthem, something he rarely misses. He slid into his chair on the bench just before the pregame introductions, but would only say he had something to take care of before the game.

It certainly didn't affect his performance.

"I told him to go for 60," Cleveland's Shaquille O'Neal said. "He's fun to watch."

Despite James' theatrics, the Cavaliers had to fight to hold on in the fourth quarter.

Cleveland led by as much as 24 in the first half, but the Knicks cut the deficit to 109-106 on a basket by Jordan Hill with 2:19 to play.

James countered with a jumper from just inside the 3-point line, then grabbed the rebound following a miss by Al Harrington and stuck another jumper to make it 113-106 with less than a minute to play.

Nate Robinson, in his second start at point guard this season, had 26 points for New York. David Lee added 20 points and Harrington had 16 off the bench, including nine in the fourth.

After the Cavaliers scored 74 points in the first half, New York held Cleveland to just 39 the rest of the way. D'Antoni said he would forget about the first quarter, when the Knicks were outscored by 20, and instead enjoy the comeback.

"I like to sleep at night," he said. "I'll take the last three quarters."

O'Neal scored 19 points, Anthony Parker had 11 and J.J. Hickson added 10 for Cleveland, which is two shy of tying the franchise record for consecutive wins it set last season.

The 24-point scoring stretch isn't even James' career best. He scored the final 25 points in Cleveland's memorable 109-107 double-overtime victory at Detroit in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals in 2007. That performance propelled Cleveland to the NBA finals, someplace James and the Cavaliers, with the NBA's best record, could be headed again.

"I could really go for 50 a lot of nights if I wanted to," James said. "But I feel like if I have my teammates involved, it's ultimately going to help us in the long run."

Big games against the Knicks are nothing new to James. He had 52 points on Jan. 4, 2009, in New York, when he later had a triple-double taken away after video review. He scored 50 against them March. 5, 2008, and he had 45 at Cleveland on Nov. 2, 2007.

During his only visit to Madison Square Garden this season, James had 19 in the first quarter and the Cavs scored 40 in what became a 100-91 Cleveland victory on Nov. 6.

All of those games were Cleveland victories, but James won't concede that New York brings out the best in him.

"It's nothing personal," he said. "It's strictly business."

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CLEVELAND -- LeBron James was willing to do anything necessary to beat close friend Dwyane Wade.

Even if it meant filling in at point guard.

Forced to start in the backcourt, James scored 36 points -- 17 on free throws -- and Daniel Gibson added 12 in the second half after rushing back from the hospital as the Cleveland Cavaliers ran their winning streak to 10 with a 102-84 win over Wade and the Miami Heat on Thursday night.

James ran Cleveland's offense in place of Gibson, who had been starting while Mo Williams and Delonte West recover from injuries.

In attack mode from the start, James added eight assists, seven rebounds and went 17 of 21 from the line. The anticipated one-on-one showdown between him and Wade never materialized as the Cavs controlled the game and attempted 36 free throws to 14 for Miami.

"This team is just better than us," said Wade, flattened twice by run-ins with Shaquille O'Neal. "You have to be realistic. I understand this team has NBA championship aspirations. We don't have that. We're focusing on trying to get to the playoffs and this team is trying to get to the championship. It's totally different."

Wade finished with 24 points on 11 of 26 shooting and Michael Beasley had 21 as the Heat dropped its fourth straight and sixth in seven games.

Gibson was scratched from the starting lineup and didn't enter the game until the second half after joining his pregnant fiancee, singer Keyshia Cole, who was hospitalized for precautionary reasons. He made two 3-pointers in the fourth when the Cavs outscored the Heat 21-13.

Gibson watched part of the game on TV at home before heading to the arena.

"We had a long day," Gibson said, adding that Cole has not had the baby.

The last time James and Wade hooked up on Jan. 12, they scored a combined 70 points in an anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better matchup. Both provided their usual jaw-dropping plays again, but James was able to improve to 13-9 against Wade, including 9-1 in Cleveland.

"Nothing personal," said James, averaging 34 points, 6.3 assists and 6.7 rebounds in three wins over Miami this season. "Strictly business."

Miami was within eight after three quarters, but the Cavs outscored them 10-3 to open the fourth, taking a 91-76 lead on a 3 by Gibson. Wade tried to keep Miami close but didn't have nearly as much help as James, who has adapted his game lately to fill the backcourt void.

"I knew I was going to have the ball in my hands a lot because I was the starting point guard or point forward, whatever you want to call it," James said. "Like Magic [Johnson]. I can go coast to coast and do a lot of things with the ball that point guards in this league can't do.

"I was aggressive, they fouled me and I continued to be aggressive."

While James was able to draw fouls -- he shot 21 free throws to 2 for Wade -- his Miami counterpart wasn't able to get as many calls despite being knocked down on a few occasions. Twice, Wade ran into O'Neal, his former Heat teammate, and found himself looking at the ceiling without hearing a whistle.

"I went into him a couple times and nothing got called," Wade said. "I do what I normally do and that's be aggressive. He stepped up and delivered a couple body blows, but he knows I'm not going to break. So it's fine. He got a little blood, but it wasn't nothing."

O'Neal added 13 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes, yet another strong, efficient performance from the big man who has stepped his game up of late. When Wade came at him, O'Neal held his ground.

"I'm not going to move and I ain't going to flop," he said. "So I'm just going to stand there. They're either going to call a foul or let us play."

O'Neal posted up and scored on a pair of short jumpers as the Cavs pushed their lead to 12 late in the third.

Gibson rejoined his teammates in the second quarter, and moments after he came back, James scored on an alley-oop dunk, fed J.J. Hickson for a slam and set up Zydrunas Ilgauskas for a 3 that put the Cavaliers ahead by five.

Gibson said Cole, who was sent home, didn't want him to miss the game.

"She was pushing me to get here just as much as I was trying to get here," he said.

Hickson posterized Wade with a monster dunk in the first. Hickson hustled to pick up a loose ball near midcourt and then raced down the floor before throwing down a two-hander on Wade, who probably would have been better off if he had let the 6-foot-9 Hickson pass freely.

Wade tried to return the facial in the third, but was rejected at the rim by Hickson.

CLEVELAND -- When LeBron James hit his fourth 3-pointer of the first quarter -- from 30 feet away -- Los Angeles Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy sat silent in his chair while the sold-out crowd roared around him.

There was little Dunleavy or his team could do to stop the Cleveland Cavaliers during their 114-89 win Sunday night.

James scored half of Cleveland's 46 points in the first quarter and the streaking Cavaliers tied an NBA record with 11 3-pointers in the opening period of their season-best eighth straight victory.

The whole spectacle left Dunleavy stunned.

"I've got money that I'll put them in the gym naked, nobody else on them, and they probably can't make 11 out of 13 again from the same spots," Dunleavy said. "They hit some shots in that first quarter that I know in 30 years of being in the NBA that I've [never] seen a team make."

The 46 points tied a franchise mark for most in a quarter, and Cleveland's 16 3-pointers fell one shy of the team record for a game.

The leader, as usual, was James. He made his first seven shots and finished with 32 points and 11 assists. His five 3-pointers in the first equaled the team's mark for most by a player in a quarter.

The hotter James got, the deeper he started firing -- shots he playfully refers to as "heat checks." By the end of the first quarter, the Q was sizzling with a 46-20 Cleveland lead.

James heaved baskets from 30 and 28 feet as the Cavaliers made 3-pointers on seven consecutive possessions in the period.

"There's no description of a player getting into the zone like that. It just happens," James said. "And when it happens, everything you put up, you feel like it's going in."

Early on, that was true. Anderson Varejao appeared to toss an alley-oop to Jamario Moon in the second quarter, but ended up making the basket when his lob sailed high. Varejao had 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

All of Cleveland's first-quarter 3-pointers came within the flow of the offense -- either Shaquille O'Neal passing out of the post or James passing out of double teams.

James had four 3s during the streak, Daniel Gibson added two and Anthony Parker started it with one 4 minutes into the game.

The long-range shooting extended a 9-7 lead to 30-11 in a little more than three minutes. The Cavaliers shot 16 of 21 in the quarter, including 11 of 13 on 3-pointers.

Baron Davis had 30 points for the Clippers, who have dropped four straight and are 1-5 on this eight-game road trip. Los Angeles was again without center Chris Kaman, who has missed consecutive games with a sprained left ankle. Eric Gordon had 12 points and DeAndre Jordan added 11 for Los Angeles.

O'Neal had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland, which kicked off a seven-game homestand with an easy win. Gibson had 14 points and Jawad Williams added 12 off the bench.

"I've got some of the best shooters in the game on my team," O'Neal said. "That was hot. It was a very impressive first quarter. Very impressive."

The lead swelled to 31 late in the second before Los Angeles cut it to 92-81 with 6:52 left. The Cavs responded with two dunks from O'Neal and one by James to thwart any chance of a Clippers comeback.

Cleveland coach Mike Brown liked the first quarter shooting display, but was even more impressed by the way James commanded the huddle during timeouts in the second half. James and his teammates realized the momentum and the lead were slipping away, but fought to keep the margin in double figures. Brown said that is the type of self-coaching the Cavaliers will need to do in the postseason.

"We let the game slip away a little bit, and once we realized it, I didn't have to say much," Brown said. "The win is great, but for me, that was the most exciting part -- listening to my players in the huddle. That gets the little hairs on my head standing straight up."

Fresh off back-to-back losses to the owners of the NBA's two worst records, the Los Angeles Clippers don't figure to have much of a chance against the team with the league's best.

The Cleveland Cavaliers look to extend their latest winning streak to a season-high eight games as they kick off a seven-game homestand Sunday against the struggling Clippers.

Cleveland (37-11) suddenly appears to be running away with the race for the Eastern Conference's best record, as 22 wins in 26 games combined with uneven play from Atlanta, Orlando and Boston have given it a five-game cushion.

After playing four games decided by one point in a six-game stretch from Jan. 14-25, the Cavaliers have enjoyed a pair of easy victories in their two latest games. J.J. Hickson had a career-high 23 points in a 109-95 home win over Minnesota on Wednesday, then LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal each scored 22 as Cleveland cruised to a 94-73 win at Indiana on Friday.

"On the road you want a quick start," said James, who had nine of his 13 assists in the first quarter and missed a triple-double by one rebound. "We were great at knocking down our shots and great at getting stops. Defensively, we were in tune with about everything they were doing on offense. Offensively, we shared the ball."

James has averaged just 16.0 points in the Cavaliers' last two wins while averaging about 33 minutes -- eight below his average from the previous nine games. His 22.9-point career average against the Clippers (20-26) is his lowest against any opponent, but Cleveland has won seven straight in the series.

He's scored 32 in each of his last two games against Los Angeles, and every one of those points was necessary Jan. 16 at Staples Center. James scored 13 in the fourth quarter to rally the Cavaliers from a six-point deficit to win 102-101.

The Clippers won their next two games before heading on an eight-game road trip, and a 1-4 start has them in 12th place in the West, closer to 13th-place Sacramento than the teams above them.

Los Angeles' latest two losses were particularly tough to take, starting Wednesday at New Jersey. The Clippers fell 103-87, giving the Nets their fourth win of the season and prompting a players-only meeting.

Apparently it didn't do much good. With Chris Kaman sidelined by a sprained left ankle, Los Angeles shot 41.7 percent and missed 13 of its 27 free throws in a 111-97 loss to conference-worst Minnesota.

"We let two games get away that we should have won, had we played with the effort, had we played with the freedom and the mentality that we need to play with in order to be successful," said Baron Davis, who had 28 points -- 23 in the third quarter. "It only gets tougher from this point."

The Clippers are 0-5 without Kaman, who missed the game against Cleveland earlier this month with a back injury. He is listed as day to day.

Los Angeles won't have to worry about Mo Williams (sprained shoulder) and possibly Delonte West (broken finger) in this meeting, but it likely needs more from Davis to have a chance. Davis scored nine points in the last matchup with the Cavaliers and averaged 11.7 points in his next six games before scoring 28 at Minnesota.

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INDIANAPOLIS -- The only question left in the final minutes was whether or not LeBron James would get his 27th career triple-double.

He finished one rebound short, but the Cavaliers still beat the Indiana Pacers 94-73 on Friday night to win their seventh straight game. James finished with 22 points, a season-high 13 assists and nine boards.

The sellout crowd, most of which stayed despite their team trailing by as many as 23 points, got excited when James grabbed his ninth rebound with 3:37 to play. He left the game with 2:36 remaining and his team ahead 93-71.

It was the third time in six games that he missed a triple-double by a single rebound, but James didn't mind coming up short.

"It's all about wins for me," he said. "I think I've probably had the most one-rebound or one-assist-away triple-doubles than anybody in NBA history. Those things will come. Individual accolades will come."

Cleveland coach Mike Brown said he planned to keep his star in the game longer, but James called a 20-second timeout after he made two free throws.

James was 6-for-18 from the field, but dominated every other facet.

"He's brilliant," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "He's just an off-the-chart player. One of the greats of all time. He comes to play every night."

Shaquille O'Neal tied a season high with 22 points in 25 minutes on 8-for-10 shooting.

"Shaq is going to play like this," James said. "We know how good a player he is, and tonight was another prime example."

Danny Granger led the Pacers with 13 points, but he shot 6 for 23 from the field. He also had 10 rebounds and five assists.

The Pacers shot 33.7 percent from the field and scored their second-fewest points this season. Indiana scored nine points on 3 for 19 shooting in the fourth quarter.

"We couldn't hit the broad side of a barn," O'Brien said. "We drove it to the basket, and when they weren't blocking shots, they were intimidating shots."

It was the fewest points the Cavaliers allowed all season, bettering the 79 points they gave up against Charlotte on Halloween.

"Defensively, we were in tune with just about everything they were doing on offense," James said.

James had nine assists in the first quarter to help the Cavaliers take a 36-18 lead. He just missed the team record of 10 assists in a quarter, accomplished by Mark Price in 1990 and '93.

"I think when you can get your teammates involved early -- I think I had nine assists in the first quarter -- it gave us an opportunity to have a 36-point quarter," James said. "It gets everyone involved, everyone got an opportunity to touch the ball on the offensive end."

The Cavaliers led 58-44 at halftime.

Indiana hung around early in the second half. A three-point play by Troy Murphy cut Cleveland's lead to 68-58 with four minutes left in the third quarter. Daniel Gibson and Jawad Williams hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back to 16 within a minute.

A steal and two-handed jam by James gave Cleveland a 77-58 lead.

O'Neal tied his season high for points on a reverse layup with 8:26 left, but Cleveland couldn't put the game out of reach. An annoyed James re-entered the game with 6:55 left, and he quickly converted a three-point play to push the lead back to 16.

The Cavaliers have an 11-3 record in January. James has scored at least 30 points eight times, more than 40 points once and has reached double figures in assists five times this month.

"You look at the numbers, and see what I've done as an individual, and the best part about it is that it results in wins for us," he said.

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CLEVELAND -- LeBron James' only moves in the fourth quarter were in a playful dance-off with one of the arena's ushers.

After a string of nail-biters, the Cleveland Cavaliers finally enjoyed a blowout.

J.J. Hickson scored a career-high 23, James added 11 assists before resting the last 12 minutes and the Cavs finally won comfortably following two weeks of tense-and-tight games, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-95 on Wednesday night for their sixth straight victory.

It was a welcome change for the Cavaliers, whose previous seven games were decided by a combined 21 points. Cleveland was coming off back-to-back one-point wins over Oklahoma City and Miami.

"We're OK with having ones where the big guys don't have to play as much," James said. "We're OK finishing games off with heart pounders for the coaching staff and fans. "

Emerging as an interior option for Cleveland, Hickson was active near the basket and went 8 of 10 from the field and made all 7 free throws in 25 minutes. Leading by 19 points after three, Cavs coach Mike Brown had the luxury of sitting James, Hickson and Shaquille O'Neal for the fourth.

The Cavaliers were again without injured point guards Mo Williams and Delonte West, but it hardly mattered against the Timberwolves, who dropped to 3-21 outside Minnesota.

James added 12 points and six rebounds in 31 minutes.

Corey Brewer scored 22 and Kevin Love 20 for the Timberwolves, who lacked the firepower to trade baskets with the NBA's best team.

"They're one of the best teams we've played," Brewer said. "They've got LeBron. They've got Shaq. They've got a lot of really good players."

Hickson is developing into another.

Most of his points came on dunks or layups as James found him slashing to the basket. With Hickson part of their offensive package, the Cavs can go down low to O'Neal, Anderson Varejao or Zydrunas Ilgauskas and take pressure off James.

James has developed a nice chemistry with Hickson, a second-year forward who entered the draft early from North Carolina State. Along with feeding his teammate passes, James said he dishes out advice to Hickson.

"One thing I try to do is just stay in his ear, positively," James said. "I'm going to continue to let him know how easy it can be for him if he just does what I tell him to do."

James' comment was met with laughter. He wasn't kidding.

"Seriously, man," James said. "It sounds kind of weird, but I see a lot of openings for him on the court that he doesn't see. He doesn't have a lot of experience and I just try to stay in his ear."

O'Neal added 13 points and four assists in just 19 minutes and Jamario Moon added a season-high 14 points.

O'Neal, too, sees big potential in the 21-year-old Hickson.

"I told J.J. when I first got here, 'J.J., you could be Cedric Ceballos'," O'Neal said. "Of course, he doesn't know who that was. I played with Cedric Ceballos, who never got any plays called for him, but he averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds. I think J.J. can do the same thing."

The rare blowout gave the Cavs, who have won 21 of 25, a chance to relax and fool around more than they have at almost any point this season.

During the third quarter, Daniel Gibson drew a charging foul and as he was laying on the court, James, O'Neal and Anthony Parker rushed over to tend to their fallen teammate. But once they saw he was OK, the trio began tickling Gibson and Parker even pretended to revive him with chest compressions.

During a timeout late in the fourth, the arena scoreboard showed James imitating the usher, whose frenetic dance style has made him a popular fixture during Cleveland's home games.

The Timberwolves played much better after being blown out by 33 in New York and 27 at Milwaukee in their previous games, but gave up 60 points in the paint and lost their fifth straight.

"I was much more pleased with their effort," Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis said. "I was happier with the way they played. A lot of it has to do with their mental approach and focus. I like the way our guys fought."

James recorded another of his signature chase-down blocks in the first quarter. The latest victim was Brewer, who appeared to be on his way to an easy breakaway bucket when James raced down the floor, caught the unsuspecting swingman from behind and swatted his shot out of bounds.

Brewer's only reaction was a wide, what-can-you-do smile.

"I kind of knew he was coming, but you have to take it, man," Brewer said.