LeBron James starred as the Cleveland Cavaliers extended the woes of the Boston Celtics with a 98-83 win on Friday.

James avenged a hard-fought loss to the Celtics in the season opener and defeat in last year's Eastern Conference semi-finals with 38 points, seven boards, six assists, four steals and three blocks.

With the win, the Cavaliers moved to the top in the East - a game and a half ahead of the slumping Celtics, who have lost four in a row and seven of nine since a franchise-record 19-game winning streak.

The Celtics dropped to third in the East behind the Orlando Magic as Hedo Turkoglu scored 21 points in a 121-87 demolition of the Atlanta Hawks.

Dwight Howard added 16 points and 10 rebounds and JJ Redick came off the bench to score 15 points for Orlando, who improved to 7-1 against Southeast Division foes.

Allen Iverson scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half on his return to Denver as the Detroit Pistons rallied for a thrilling 93-90 comeback victory over the Nuggets to move ahead of the Hawks into fourth place in the East.

Kobe Bryant hit the game-winning jumper with three seconds left and had 36 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds to help the Los Angeles Lakers move five games ahead at the top of the Western Conference after a dramatic 121-119 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

The New Orleans Hornets remained six games back in third after Rasual Butler poured in a season-high 27 points to lead six players in double figures as the New Orleans Hornets extended the Los Angeles Clippers' losing streak to 10 games with a 107-80 win.

In other games, Luke Ridnour rolled in the game-winning floater to lift the Milwaukee Bucks to a 104-102 victory over the New Jersey Nets, Chris Bosh had 32 points and 10 rebounds as the Toronto Raptors posted a 103-82 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, the trio of Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young combined for 49 points to give the Philadelphia 76ers a 93-87 triumph over the Charlotte Bobcats and Ben Gordon scored 22 points as the Chicago Bulls posted a 98-86 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Yao Ming scored seven of his 14 points late in the fourth quarter to lead the Houston Rockets past the Oklahoma City Thunder 98-96, Shaquille O'Neal collected 25 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Phoenix Suns to a 128-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks and Dwyane Wade poured in 40 points as he carried the Miami Heat to a 119-115 win over the struggling Sacramento Kings.