Los Angeles  - Though it was ugly, the Cleveland Cavaliers saw the beauty in their latest victory. LeBron James scored eight of his 25 points in a late 10-0 run and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Cavaliers extended their franchise-record winning streak to 13 with a bruising 79-73 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night.

"It was a good, ugly, physical grind-it-out game," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "It was a good win, especially playing that way. Our team defence was great."

The Cavaliers ran their league-best mark to 61-13, including 36-1 at home, by tightening up their defence and holding the Pistons to just 35 per cent field goal shooting.

"We players hate games like these, but as coaches you love them," James said.

"Every win is not going to be pretty, but we found a way. Even with the bad shooting tonight, (38 per cent), because again we got stops. We held Dallas to 25 points in the second half on Sunday, and we came back to hold Detroit to 29 tonight."

Coupled with the LA Lakers' 94-84 loss at Charlotte, the Cavaliers' magic number to clinch the league's top spot and gain home court advantage throughout the playoffs was cut to six.

"We'd like to be the number one seed," Brown said. "The more games we play at home, especially in front of our fans, the better."

Trailing 69-67 with 5:09 left to play, James took the Cavs on a game-turning 10-0 run, sandwiching a pair of three-point plays around an assist on Anderson Varejao's layup. He capped it with a layup of his own, giving the hosts a 77-69 advantage at the 2:19 mark.

"LeBron played the game the right way," Brown said. "In this type of game, because of the wear and tear throughout the game that both teams are putting on each other's bodies, in the last few minutes of the game that jump shot is going to be tougher and tougher to hit.

"When he decides to attack like he did tonight, look out. It's almost impossible to stop a guy going as fast as he goes and as strong and athletic as he is. Defensively, he was terrific, too."

Richard Hamilton scored 13, Allen Iverson 11 off the bench for the Pistons (36-38) who remain seventh in the Eastern Conference playoff chase with eight games left.

"We held then to 38 per cent shooting, and when LeBron goes 9-for-24, that's a game you should win," Pistons coach Michael Curry said. "But with 15 turnovers, we didn't take of the basketball. That was our problem."

Elsewhere: Charlotte Bobcats 94, LA Lakers 84 Gerald Wallace had 21 points with 13 rebounds, and the Bobcats' season-sweep over the Lakers moved them within one game of eighth- placed Chicago for the final playoff berth in the East. Kobe Bryant scored 25 points for the travel-weary Lakers (58-16) who fell to 4-2 on their seven-game road trip.

Denver Nuggets 111, New York Knicks 104 Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points, and the Nuggets nearly blew a 27-point first-half cushion to clinch a Western Conference playoff spot with their ninth win in the last 10 games. Nate Robinson scored 30 for the Knicks (29-46) losers for the ninth time in the last 10 games.

Oklahoma City Thunder 96, San Antonio Spurs 95 Kevin Durant scored 31 points, and the Thunder kept the Spurs from clinching a playoff spot when Michael Finley missed a game-winning jumper at the final buzzer. Tim Duncan collected 21 points with 12 rebounds for host San Antonio (48-26) which dropped into a tie with idle Houston atop the Southwest Division.

Dallas Mavericks 108, Minnesota Timberwolves 88 German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points with 12 rebounds as the eighth-placed Mavericks (44-30) opened up a four-game lead over idle Phoenix for the final playoff spot in the West. Kevin Love led host Minnesota (21-54) with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Philadelphia 76ers 98, Atlanta Hawks 85 Andre Iguodala scored 19 points, Andre Miller had 18 with 10 assists, and the Sixers withstood a season-high 33-point effort by Josh Smith to move one-half of a game of Miami for the fifth seed in the East playoff race.

Indiana Pacers 107, Chicago Bulls 105 Danny Granger scored 31 points, TJ Ford added 22, including the go-ahead jumper with 3.9 seconds left, and the Pacers (32-43) climbed within 3.5 games of the Bulls for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Derrick Rose topped Chicago (36-40) with 24 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

Portland Trail Blazers 125, Utah Jazz 104 LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points aned Brandon Roy had 25 with 11 assists as the Trail Blazers (47-28) broke a tie with the Jazz for sole possession of fifth place in the West playoff race. Carlos Boozer led Utah (46-28) with 20 points before getting tossed midway through the third quarter for jawing with Portland's Joel Przybilla.

New Orleans Hornets 111, Sacramento Kings 110 Rasual Butler buried the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer, David West had a career-high-tying 40 points and the Hornets moved past the Jazz into sixth place in the West playoff picture. Argentine Andres Nocioni led the league-worst Kings (16-57) with 23 points.