James Reaches First Postseason

LeBron James was in seventh grade the last time the Cleveland Cavaliers played in the postseason.

And he wasn’t even a Cavalier fan.

“I was a Bulls fan -- all Michael Jordan back then. I’m all Cavs now,” James said.

James helped end the NBA’s third-longest playoff drought by scoring 46 points in a 107-94 victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, clinching Cleveland’s first postseason berth since 1998.

“I’ve always felt since I was drafted here that I was going to light it up like Vegas,” James said of making the playoffs for the first time in his three-year career. “I said that on day one once I got drafted. It’s been slow progress, but it takes a few years to put a building up in Vegas too.”

The Cavaliers didn’t celebrate.

“We have bigger goals than that,” Cavalier Coach Mike Brown said. “If the fans want to celebrate and the city wants to celebrate, that’s fine. We expected to be in the playoffs.”

Only the Golden State Warriors and the Clippers have had longer current absences from the postseason.

Against Dallas, James was relentless, driving and making several spectacular dunks. He made 16 of 23 shots, including four of seven three-pointers, in leading the Cavaliers to their sixth straight victory.

Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points for Dallas, which has lost three of its last four to fall 1 1/2 games behind San Antonio for the best record in the Western Conference.

New Jersey 86, Memphis 74 -- Richard Jefferson scored 27 points at East Rutherford, N.J., to help the Nets tie a season high with their 10th straight victory.

New Jersey built a 20-point lead in the second quarter and led by as many as 23 in matching their 10-game streak from Dec. 16 to Jan. 8.

Pau Gasol led Memphis with 21 points but was the only starter in double figures.

Miami 98, Toronto 94 -- Dwyane Wade scored 16 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, and the Heat overcame the absence of Shaquille O’Neal (knee) and a 16-point halftime deficit at Toronto.

With the Heat trailing by 13 in the final quarter, Wade scored 10 straight points to trigger a 16-4 run to give Miami its first lead since early in the first.

Morris Peterson had 28 points for the Raptors, playing again without Chris Bosh, who is expected to miss at least a week because of a sprained left thumb.

Utah 115, Denver 104 -- Mehmet Okur scored 24 points at Denver to help the Jazz remain 1 1/2 games behind the Kings for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points and Andre Miller added 19 points and 12 assists for the Nuggets, whose magic number to clinch the Northwest Division title remained at six. The Nuggets played without Marcus Camby (back).

Sacramento 106, Portland 90 -- Brad Miller scored 24 points to help the visiting Kings end a two-game losing streak while extending the Trail Blazers’ longest losing streak in 20 years to nine.

Ron Artest, however, continued to struggle. He was four of 11 from the field, making him 14 of 61 in his last four games.

Viktor Khryapa had 18 points for Portland, which lost 12 in a row in February 1986.

Boston 123, New York 98 -- Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak each scored 22 points and the visiting Celtics shot 57% and led by as many as 38 in handing the Knicks their sixth straight loss.

Qyntel Woods scored a career-high 20 points for the Knicks, who led only once, on Steve Francis’ game-opening jumper.

Detroit 101, Philadelphia 91 -- Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess each scored 18 points at Philadelphia to help send the 76ers to their third straight loss.

Allen Iverson scored 28 for the 76ers, who have only a 1 1/2 -game lead over Chicago for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot after losing 10 of their last 12 games.

Atlanta 94, Indiana 93 -- Al Harrington had 23 points at Atlanta to help the Hawks end a five-game losing streak and sweep the season series from the Pacers for the first time since the 1984-85 season.

The Hawks also kept Peja Stojakovic -- who made four three-pointers in the final 4:04 on the way to 31 points -- from touching the ball on the Pacers’ final possession, with Jermaine O’Neal instead missing a turnaround jumper.

New Orleans 86, Golden State 85 -- Rasual Butler scored 20 points and made three three-pointers in the final 4 1/2 minutes at Oakland to help the Hornets end a four-game losing streak and win for only the second time in their last 14 games.

Jason Richardson and Mike Dunleavy scored 19 points apiece for the Warriors, but neither player could come up with a basket in the final 7.7 seconds. Richardson’s attempt was blocked by Butler before Derek Fisher missed a rebound attempt -- and Dunleavy released a short bank shot just after the buzzer sounded.

Minnesota 103, Orlando 91 -- In a matchup of the present and future of NBA power forwards, Kevin Garnett had 27 points, 19 rebounds and six assists to lead the host Timberwolves past the Magic and second-year standout Dwight Howard, who finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Orlando had a four-game winning streak ended.

Houston 115, Seattle 87 -- Yao Ming had 29 points and 10 rebounds and the Rockets led by 19 after one quarter in ending a five-game home losing streak.

Seattle missed 18 of 21 shots in the first quarter, with leading scorer Ray Allen missing his first nine shots and finishing with 10 points on one-of-13 shooting. Earl Watson scored 20.

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Boston Celtic rookie guard Orien Greene was suspended indefinitely by the team after he was arrested and charged Monday with driving his sport utility vehicle at more than 90 mph on a city street.