Cavs win again, have best record in NBA

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — After beating the buzzer to give Cleveland a win the night before, LeBron James enjoyed a much less dramatic finish Saturday.

The result was the same: The Cavaliers won again and still had the best record in the NBA.

James scored 33 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and was just one assist short of a triple-double while leading Cleveland to a 102-97 win over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.

Mo Williams added 25 points and four assists, including three alley-oops to James, as the Cavs closed out a four-game road trip with their third straight win.

“We came in with the mind-set to close out the road trip the right way and we did that,” said James, who finished 14-for-27 from the field with his usual array of dazzling dunks.

Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, going 7-for-8 from the floor while filling in for injured center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

Deron Williams had a season-high 16 assists and scored 17 points for Utah, which had won seven straight at home.

Paul Millsap finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, but the Jazz could not keep up with the Cavs at the end despite Cleveland’s late night Friday in a 106-105 win at Golden State on James’ 19-foot jumper just before time expired. On Saturday, all James had to do in the final seconds was dribble out the clock after Cleveland held off Utah’s final push.

The Jazz missed two 3-pointers that could have tied it in the final minute and another 3 after Cleveland had gone up by five points.

“We were right there. We had chances. We just didn’t come up with the win,” Deron Williams said.

Williams tied it at 91 with a layup for Utah, then Mo Williams answered with a three-point play to start an 11-6 run for Cleveland over the last 2:41.

Sasha Pavlovic scored 13 and grabbed a crucial defensive rebound as Utah tried to rally one more time.

Mo Williams was 5-for-11 from 3-point range and Pavlovic finished 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.