Los Angeles - LeBron James and Mo Williams made sure the Eastern Conference finals rematch turned into a mismatch. James scored 36 points, Williams had a season-high 28 and the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers dominated the Orlando Magic 102-93 on Wednesday night.
"We just played with a sense of urgency," James said. "We played from the opening tip and we were in tune. We flew around, we helped each other. It was an all-around good performance by our team."
Shaquille O'Neal netted just 10 points, but kept Magic centre Dwight Howard in foul trouble most of the game as the Cavaliers (5-3) never trailed en route to the convincing victory.
"It's great to have a big fella like Shaq to clog the middle," James said. "When Shaq is guarding Dwight in the post, he makes him take tough shots. We needed Shaq to stay tough and that's what he did tonight."
The Magic surprised the Cavs in six games last spring before bowing to the LA Lakers in the NBA Finals. However, the outcome between the two Eastern Conference titans was different this time.
James scored 23 and Williams added 22 on a perfect 9-for-9 shooting, including four three-pointers, as the Cavs raced to a 66-51 halftime cushion. The gap grew to 20 after three before coasting to the easy win.
"Mo came out on fire and he carried us for most of the night," James said. "He had an unbelievable game, we needed that from him."
Vince Carter had 29 points, Jameer Nelson 19, while Howard finished with 11 and just seven rebounds for Orlando (6-3) which has lost two of its last three games, including a 102-74 pasting to Oklahoma City on Sunday.
"We are not very good right now, we got totally outplayed tonight," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "It was just a broken record tonight: no defence, no rebounding, not a whole lot of effort.
"We won last year with our defence," he continued. "This group thinks we win with our offence, so we don't play any defence. Until you are going to try to guard, until you play as hard as the teams you play against, then you are going to be in trouble. That's where we are right now."
Elsewhere: Boston Celtics 105, Utah Jazz 86 Kevin Garnett scored 18 points, Rajon Rondo had 14 with 11 assists, and the host Celtics (8-1) placed eight players in double figures to drop the Jazz.
Phoenix Suns 124, New Orleans Hornets 104 Amare Stoudemire scored 21 points, Grant Hill added 18 to lead eight players in double figures, and the red-hot Suns (8-1) remained tied with Boston for the NBA's best record.
Atlanta Hawks 114, New York Knicks 101 Al Horford scored a season-high 25 points, Josh Smith had 22 with 12 rebounds and the visiting Hawks (6-2) sent the struggling Knicks to their fifth straight loss.
Toney Douglas scored a season-best 23 points while Al Harrington had 23 and 12 boards for New York (1-8) off to its worst start since the 2002-03 campaign.
San Antonio Spurs 92, Dallas Mavericks 83 Richard Jefferson scored 29 points, and the Spurs (4-4) beat their Texas rivals without All-Stars Frenchman Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, out with ankle injuries.
German wunderkind Dirk Nowitzki led visiting Dallas (5-3) with 29 points and 12 rebounds.
Houston Rockets 104, Memphis Grizzlies 79 Argentine Luis Scola had 22 points with 15 rebounds, Carl Landry scored 20 and the Rockets (5-3) sent the visiting Grizzlies (1-8) to their seventh straight loss.
Philadelphia 76ers 82, New Jersey Nets 79 Thaddeus Young scored 20 points, and Marreese Speights added 19, including the go-ahead three-point play with 70 seconds remaining as the visiting 76ers (4-4) kept the Nets winless.
Brook Lopez had 23 points and 14 rebounds for New Jersey (0-8) off to its worst start in franchise history.
Portland Trail Blazers 107, Minnesota Timberwolves 84 Greg Oden had 18 points with 11 rebounds, Spain's Rudy Fernandez scored 15 to give the visiting Blazers (6-3) their fourth straight win, while handing the T-Wolves (1-8) their eight consecutive loss.
Indiana Pacers 108, Golden State Warriors 94 Danny Granger had 31 points and a career-high 16, carrying the host Pacers (3-3) to their third straight victory.
Toronto Raptors 99, Chicago Bulls 89 Chris Bosh collected 28 points with 11 rebounds, and the Raptors (4-4) held the Bulls to 29 second-half points.
Luol Deng and Taj Gibson scored 18 points apiece for visiting Chicago (4-4) which shot 25 per cent (10 for 40) after intermission.
Milwaukee Bucks 108, Denver Nuggets 102 Brandon Jennings scored 14 of his 32 points in the final quarter, including six free throws in the final seconds, and the surprising Bucks (4-2) remained atop the Central Division.
Carmelo Anthony topped visiting Denver (6-3) with 32 points and 10 rebounds.
Detroit Pistons 98, Charlotte Bobcats 75 Charlie Villanueva scored 18 of his season-high 30 points in the third quarter, helping the Pistons (4-4) post back-to-back victories for the first time this season.
Oklahoma City Thunder 83, LA Clippers 79 Kevin Durant scored 30 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 38 seconds left, helping the visiting Thunder (4-4) snap a modest two-game road losing skid.
