James leads way for Cavs

The National staff

• Last Updated: November 22. 2009 5:49PM UAE / November 22. 2009 1:49PM GMT

The Cleveland Cavaliers held the Philadelphia 76ers to just 10 points in the fourth quarter to rally for a 97-91 win on Saturday.

LeBron James led the home team’s scoring with 32 points, as well as nine assists and seven rebounds, while Mo Williams chipped in 18 points as the Cavs came back from a 81-76 deficit.

“Defensively, everyone was on a string,” said the Cleveland coach Mike Brown. “Everyone helped one another. Everyone trusted one another. It was great to see.”

Philadelphia made only four of 23 shots in the final quarter after scoring 30 points in the third.

“Credit their defence. They’re a good defensive team when they want to be,” said the Philadelphia coach, Eddie Jordan.

“They’re going for the gold, man. They’re doing what they think is necessary to win the championship.”

It was the 10th win in 12 games for the Cavaliers after losing their first two games of the season.

Cleveland, playing their fourth game in five days, were still without the injured Shaquille O’Neal, who has missed their last five matches.

“We just turned it up,” said James. “When we’re playing defence like that at, it’s hard to beat us.”

It was the second consecutive game in which the Cavaliers stifled their opponents with a solid fourth-quarter defensive effort. They held the Indiana Pacers to just 13 points in a 105-95 win on Friday.

Lou Williams scored 22 and Thaddeus Young added 21 for Philadelphia. Andre Iguodala had 12 points but made just one shot in the final quarter.

Elsewhere, the Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta Hawks had their seven-game winning streak brought to an end as they lost 96-88 to the New Orleans Hornets.

The Denver Nuggets remained perfect at home with a 112-93 win over the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz won their fourth game in a row, 100-97 over the Detroit Pistons after overtime, on the back of 22 points from Carlos Boozer.

* With agencies