Los Angeles - The Cleveland Cavaliers are headed home with their heads held high. LeBron James scored 37 points, and the Cavaliers clinched the NBA's best record along with homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs by beating the Indiana Pacers 117-109 on Monday night.

"It's one step along the way but it's a big step" said MVP favourite James.

"To go throughout a season with the great players and the great teams that you have in this league, and to finish with the best record in the NBA is a great feat for our franchise. And we're proud of it."

Even though the Cavs own a 66-15 mark, including an astounding 39- 1 at home with one game left on Wednesday, James doesn't think his team should be considered favourites at this stage.

"Until you knock off the NBA Champs that's the team to beat," James said referring to the Boston Celtics.

The Cavaliers know what they have to do to win when they open their first-round series against the eighth-seeded Detroit Pistons this weekend.

"We worked hard to the point where we're at now, and we must serve home like we've done in the regular-season once the playoffs start," James said.

"We've got to play at the same high level we've played this year. We know the playoffs are a different game. Mentally and physically, you have to be a little stronger, but we're healthy and ready."

Delonte West scored 20 points, Mo Williams had 18 while Zydrunas Ilgauskas finished with 16 and 10 rebounds for Cleveland, which won't be satisfied until it has a championship ring.

"It's funny because we got all these accolades throughout the year, but we're still not excited," Williams explained. "We congratulate each other, but we're not jumping around, because we want to win the NBA Championship."

Danny Granger scored 38 points, rookie Brandon Rush scored 27 for Indiana, which cut a 15-point halftime deficit to seven late in the game before falling short.

Elsewhere: Denver Nuggets 118, Sacramento Kings 98

Hotshot J.R. Smith hit a franchise-best 11 three-pointers en route to a career-high 45 points, including 23 in the final quarter, and the Nuggets (54-27) clinched the Northwest Division title along with home-court advantage in a playoffs

Chicago Bulls 91, Detroit Pistons 88 Derrick Rose scored 24, Ben Gordon had 19, including the tie-breaking layup with 15 seconds left, and the Bulls moved one-half game ahead of idle Philadelphia for sixth seed in the East playoff scramble.

Milwaukee Bucks 98, Orlando Magic 80 Richard Jefferson scored 24 points, Ramon Sessions added 19 and the host Bucks beat the Eastern Conference's third-seed, which rested starters Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis.

New Jersey Nets 91, Charlotte Bobcats 87 Brook Lopez had 18 points with a career-best 20 rebounds, while Jarvis Hayes scored 15, including a pair of late three-pointers, helping the Nets overcame a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit.

Toronto Raptors 97, Washington Wizards 96 Chris Bosh had 25 points, 15 rebounds and the go-ahead three-pointer with 9.3 seconds, rallying the visiting Raptors over the Wizards.

Caron Butler scored 28 points for Washington (19-62) which has reached a verbal agreement on a four-year, 18-million dollar contract to hire Flip Saunders as its new coach, according to the Yahoo website.

Houston Rockets 86, New Orleans Hornets 66 China's Yao Ming scored 22, Argentina's Luis Scola grabbed 15 rebounds and the Rockets moved within one victory of clinching their first Southwest Division title since the 1993-94 season.

San Antonio Spurs 101, Golden State Warriors 72 Drew Gooden had 20 points with 15 rebounds, Tim Duncan added 16 and 13 boards before sitting out the fourth quarter, as the Spurs (53-28) remained deadlocked with Houston atop the Southwest Division.

If both Houston and San Antonio win regular-season finales on Wednesday, the Rockets will win a tiebreaker and claim the third playoff seed in the West.

Portland Trail Blazers 113, Oklahoma City Thunder 83 Travis Outlaw scored 21 points, Greg Oden added 16 with nine rebounds off the bench as the Trail Blazers remained in a three-way tie with Houston and San Antonio for the third seed in the Western Conference playoff picture.

Dallas Mavericks 96, Minnesota Timberwolves 94 German wunderkind Dirk Nowitzki scored 34 points, and Jason Terry nailed the game winning jumper with two tenths of a second left, rallying the Mavericks into a sixth-place tie with the Hornets in the Western Conference playoff hunt.

The spot will be determined in Wednesday night's regular-season finale, when Dallas meets Houston, and New Orleans faces San Antonio.

Utah Jazz 106, LA Clippers 85 Carlos Boozer had 20 points with 13 rebounds, Paul Millshap added 19 and 11 boards as the host Jazz (48-33) ended a three-game slide, but remained the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoff race..

Phoenix Suns 119, Memphis Grizzlies 110 Shaquille O'Neal scored 19 points, Jason Richardson had 18, including a key three-pointer with 71 seconds left, helping the playoff-eliminated Suns to their eighth straight home win.

Hakim Warrick and Rudy Gay led Memphis with 26 points apiece.