Trailing by six points at three-quarter-time, James and Larry Hughes (18 points) combined to drive the Cavaliers to their 18th victory of the season.

Tony Parker (26 points) and Tim Duncan (18 points) tried hard for the Spurs, but the duo received little help from the rest of their team-mates.

The loss was San Antonio's ninth loss of the season, and only their fourth on the road.

Meanwhile, 30 points from Allen Iverson could not prevent the Denver Nuggets falling to a 118-97 loss at the hands of Iverson's old team the Philadelphia 76ers.

Kyle Korver was the star for the 76ers, netting 26 points off the bench, while ex-Nugget Andre Miller chipped in with 17.

In Chicago, Ben Gordon shot 41 points for the Bulls but, despite his heroics, the Phoenix Suns rallied from a 10-point three-quarter-time deficit to overrun the Chicago Bulls 97-96.

The Suns had five players scoring in double figures, led by Amare Stoudemire (24 points) and Shawn Marion (22 points), while point-guard Steve Nash contributed 11 points and dished out 13 assists.

In other matches, the Orlando Magic edged past the Los Angeles Clippers 91-86, the Golden State Warriors proved too strong for the New Orleans-Oklahoma Hornets 97-89, the Dallas Mavericks thrashed the Seattle Supersonics 112-88 and the Sacramento Kings defeated the New York Knicks 112-100.

NBA Results from Tuesday (US)
Cavaliers 82 Spurs 78
Magic 91 Clippers 86
Hornets 89 Warriors 97
Bulls 96 Suns 97
Mavericks 112 Supersonics 88
Nuggets 97 76ers 108
Kings 112 Knicks 100