LeBron James scored 33 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied in the fourth quarter for a 90-80 victory over Central Division rivals the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
The win, the sixth in seven games for Cleveland, extended the Cavaliers' divisional lead over the Pistons to 12 games.
Cleveland (37-9), which had lost four in a row in Detroit, trailed 66-58 after three quarters before outscoring the Pistons 15-2 in the first seven minutes of the fourth without James on the floor.
"Regardless of who's out on the court, to get outscored at that point (is disappointing)," Pistons coach Michael Curry told reporters.
"I just thought through the first three quarters we had done the job, done exactly what we wanted to do. And then we get into the fourth and for whatever reason, we just made too many mistakes."
Mo Williams posted 12 of his 22 points in the big quarter and Daniel Gibson had all seven of his in the first 1:30 of the period.
"Gib (Gibson) came out in the fourth and hit three straight baskets and then Mo came and hit three straight baskets and those guys basically took control of the game for us," James said.
"It's uplifting," James said of the work of his teammates.
"We knew if we stayed patient we'd be able to break the game open if our defense was there," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said.
Allen Iverson led Detroit (25-21) with 22 and Richard Hamilton had 16.
The loss was the fourth consecutive at home for the Pistons.
(Agencies via China Daily Feburary 3, 2009)
