CLEVELAND — Pat Riley, meet LeBron James.

James helped spoil an otherwise perfect week for the returning Miami coach, scoring 41 points and taking over late to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a 115-107 victory over Riley and the Heat last night.

Riley, coaching against James for the first time, was impressed.

"A guy like that gets it going, what are you going to do?" Riley said. "I've seen too many players like him. At times, you're helpless."

Donyell Marshall put up season highs of 25 points and 13 rebounds and Larry Hughes scored 20 points, but it was James' 13 straight points in the fourth quarter that held off the Heat's comeback.

Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 33 points and Shaquille O'Neal tied a season-low with 10.

Miami had won four straight, including three with Riley after Stan Van Gundy resigned Monday. Cleveland has won two straight after losing seven of nine.

"This is a very big win because it's against an Eastern Conference powerhouse," James said. "We caught them on the end of a back to back, but they can win a game at any time."

SPURS 90, KINGS 89

SAN ANTONIO — Michael Finley hit a 20-foot jumper with 2.5 seconds left, lifting San Antonio over Sacramento.

Mike Bibby, who made two long shots late in the game, had a chance to win it for the Kings, but his 3-point heave over Tim Duncan and Tony Parker went off the back of the rim.

Bonzi Wells beat Finley on a drive for a layup with 8 seconds left to put the Kings ahead 89-88.

CLIPPERS 89, ROCKETS 81

LOS ANGELES — Sam Cassell had 22 points and Elton Brand scored nine of his 20 points in the final six minutes, helping Los Angeles snap Houston's five-game winning streak.

Tracy McGrady scored 25 of his 29 points in the first half for the Rockets, whose loss was their first in the last 10 meetings with the Clippers. The Rockets are 0-12 this season when they score fewer than 90 points.

JAZZ 88, BUCKS 80

MILWAUKEE — Mehmet Okur had 14 points and 14 rebounds, Gordan Giricek and Deron Williams also scored 14 apiece, and Utah opened the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run to pull away from Milwaukee.

The Jazz led 29-13 early in the second quarter, but the Bucks chipped away and took a 65-64 lead, before Greg Ostertag made one of two free throws to tie it at 65 to end the third quarter.

BULLS 118, CELTICS 86

CHICAGO — Michael Sweetney had 24 points and seven rebounds and Chris Duhon added 22 points and eight assists to lead Chicago to an easy victory over Boston.

Chicago, coming off a 28-point loss at Detroit on Friday night, hit a club-record nine 3-pointers in the third quarter and was 14 of 17 overall from 3-point range. Chicago was 9 of 10 from 3-point range in the third to take a 90-63 into the fourth period.

GRIZZLIES 91, SUNS 87

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mike Miller had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Pau Gasol also scored 14 points to help Memphis beat Phoenix to snap a three-game losing streak.

The Grizzlies built the lead to 11 after opening the fourth quarter with a 10-3 run that included 3-pointers by Eddie Jones and Dahntay Jones in handing Phoenix its fourth loss in its last five games.

PISTONS 103, BOBCATS 78

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chauncey Billups had 21 points and 12 assists, and Detroit routed Charlotte to improve to an NBA-best 18-3 — the best 21-game mark in franchise history.

Richard Hamilton added 15 points and Ben Wallace had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Pistons, 11-2 on the road. The Bobcats were never in it, falling behind 14-4, and 21-12 after the first quarter.

PACERS 102, KNICKS 96

NEW YORK — Jermaine O'Neal scored 31 points, including the go-ahead dunk for a 95-94 lead with 1:56 left, helping Indiana beat New York, handing the Knicks their season-high sixth straight loss.

New York led 94-91 when Danny Granger blocked Stephon Marbury's drive for his third block of the period, leading to two free throws by Jamaal Tinsley with 3 minutes left. Neither team scored again until O'Neal gave Indiana the lead for good with his dunk after a timeout with 1:50 to play.

NOTES

Pacers: Ron Artest doesn't want to be traded by the Indiana Pacers after all, his agent says.

Artest said last weekend that his past in Indiana haunts him, and he is interested in being traded to the New York Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers.

But Mark Stevens, Artest's agent, told The Associated Press yesterday that Artest hopes he can remain with the Pacers.

"At this moment, we're not going to put the buggy before the horse," Stevens said. "We're waiting to hear from (Pacers president) Donnie Walsh, the gentleman and scholar that he is, and hope this can be resolved to where there won't have to be a trade."