Los Angeles - With a little help from "Wild Thing," LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are still running wild at home. Brazilian Anderson Varejao scored a career-high 26 points, while James posted a triple-double to help the Cavaliers remain unbeaten at home at 17-0, crushing the Chicago Bulls 117-92 on Friday night.
Varejao stepped in at centre after the Cavaliers learned earlier in the day, that Zydrunas Ilgauskas will be sidelined for an undetermined amount of time with a chipped bone in his left ankle.
"I knew Z couldn't play, so I had to do something different, I had to be more aggressive," said Varejao, nicknamed Wild Thing for his big, bushy, untamed corkscrew hairdo.
"I'm looking to move without the ball, because I know LeBron is going to give me open looks."
After torching the Bulls for 41 points in each of the two Cavs' wins this season, James had 16, with 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his first triple double of the season and 18th of his career.
"I went off the first two times on Chicago, so I thought they'd try to get the ball out of my hands," James said. "Offensively, I didn't have to be aggressive. I could be aggressive to a point, where I could get opportunities for my teammates and they made plays."
Delonte West scored 14 points, while Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic and rookie JJ Hickson chipped in with 13 apiece as Cleveland (27-5) led from start to finish.
"Tonight was closer to who we have been throughout most of the season," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "We played it the right way for as close to 48 minutes as possible."
Ben Gordon scored 22 points for the Bulls (14-19), who shot an icy 37 per cent in the blowout.
Elsewhere:
Boston Celtics 108, Washington Wizards 83
Paul Pierce scored 26 points before sitting out the final quarter, and the league-best Celtics (29-5) returned home following a 1-3 West Coat trip to whip the Eastern Conference-worst Wizards (6-25).
LA Lakers 113, Utah Jazz 100
Kobe Bryant scored 40 points in just 38 minutes, and the Western Conference-leading Lakers drummed the visiting Jazz en route to their fifth straight victory.
Spaniard Pau Gasol had 21 for the Lakers (26-5) to become the 15th European player to score 10,000 points in his NBA career, to go along with 11 rebounds and six assists
Turkey's Mehmet Okur topped the Jazz (19-15) with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Orlando Magic 86, Miami Heat 76
Rashard Lewis scored 17 points, and Dwight Howard had 15 points with 15 rebounds as the Magic beat the Heat for the tenth straight time in the battle of Florida.
Dwyane Wade topped Miami (17-14) with 33 points.
Detroit Pistons 98, Sacramento Kings 92
Rodney Stuckey scored 13 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter, carrying the injury-depleted Pistons to their sixth straight victory despite Brad Miller's 25 points and 16 rebounds.
New Jersey Nets 93, Atlanta Hawks 91 (OT)
Vince Carter nailed a game-winning three-pointer to beat the overtime buzzer, and the Nets rallied from a 20-point deficit to clip the Hawks' six game-winning streak
Devin Harris topped the Nets (16-17) with 26 points and 11 assists, while Carter finished with 18 points.
Denver Nuggets 122, Oklahoma City Thunder 120
Carmelo Anthony's three-pointer from the left corner with one- tenth of a second remaining capped a 31-point effort and lifted the visiting Nuggets past the Thunder.
Kevin Durant led league-worst Oklahoma City (4-30) with 33 points.
Indiana Pacers 105, New York Knicks 103
Jarrett Jack scored a season-high 29 points, including the game- winning jumper with nine-tenths of a second remaining, ending the Pacers' four-game skid.
Al Harrington led the host Knicks (12-19) with 27 points against his former team.
New Orleans Hornets 92, Portland Trail Blazers 77
David West scored 25 points, Chris Paul had 17 with 11 assists and the visiting Hornets outscored the Trail Blazers 31-16 in the final quarter en route to their fourth straight victory.
Spaniard Rudy Fernandez had 19 points for host Portland (20-13) which played without injured All-Star Brandon Roy for the second straight contest.
Dallas Mavericks 96, Philadelphia 76ers 86
German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki scored 16 of his 31 points in the final quarter, leading the host Mavericks (20-12) to their sixth win in the last seven games.
San Antonio Spurs 91, Memphis Grizzlies 80
Tim Duncan collected 20 points with 10 rebounds, and the visiting Spurs sent the Grizzlies to their fourth straight loss.
Spanish rookie centre Marc Gasol had 15 points with 11 rebounds for Memphis (10-23).
Milwaukee Bucks 103, Charlotte Bobcats 75
Michael Redd scored 31 points, Charlie Villanueva had 27 and the Bucks (16-18) won their fifth in a row over the visiting Bobcats.
Phoenix Suns 106, LA Clippers 98
Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points, Shaquille O'Neal had 17 and the Suns (19-12) sent the visiting Clippers to their sixth straight setback despite Marcus Camby's 19-point, 23-rebound effort.
Minnesota Timberwolves 115, Golden State Warriors 108
Al Jefferson had 32 points and 10 rebounds, powering the Timberwolves (7-25) past the visiting Warriors.
Toronto Raptors 94, Houston Rockets 73
Chris Bosh and Italy's Andrea Bargnani scored 19 points apiece as the Raptors routed the visiting Rockets for just their fourth win in the last 18 games.
