The LeBron James-inspired Cavaliers put on a late rally to drop the visiting Raptors, the Lakers were tripped up at home by the Hornets on a busy night of NBA action on Wednesday.

James had 26 points, 10 assists and six rebounds in the 95-91 win and played a key role late in the game when his side was down 84-77 with just over five minutes remaining.

In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant's 24 points wasn't enough to get the Lakers over the line at the Staples Center with Chris Paul pouring in 26 of his own as New Orleans outscored the home side 30-18 down the stretch to snap a five-game losing streak.

The Blazers' Ime Udoka tied it up with a triple in Milwaukee with 1:41 to play, but neither side was able to break the deadlock before the end of regulation. The overtime period was a different matter, however, with the Bucks jumping out to an early lead and going on to outscore Portland 16-8 to take the win.

Andrew Bogut had 13 rebounds and six points on the night.

In the remaining matches around the country, a 37-21 last quarter saw Atlanta squeak past the Nuggets 98-96 in Denver, Ben Gordon scored 31 points coming off the bench as the Bulls thumped the 76ers 121-94 at home and Kevin Garnett led the Timberwolves to a 90-84 win over the Rockets in Minnesota.

The Pacers had a comfortable 94-80 win over the visiting Magic, Rudy Gay drained a two-pointer with 2.6 seconds remaining to come away from Boston with a 98-96 win, the Spurs did it easily in Charlotte - defeating the Bobcats 96-76 - and the Wizards dropped the Knicks 113-102 at Madison Square Garden.

Wednesday NBA results (US)
Pacers 94 Magic 80
Bobcats 76 Spurs 96
Cavaliers 95 Raptors 91
Celtics 96 Grizzlies 98
Knicks 102 Wizards 113
Bucks 102 Blazers 94
T'wolves 90 Rockets 84
Nuggets 96 Hawks 98
Bulls 121 76ers 94
Lakers 89 Hornets 105