Los Angeles - Kobe Bryant shook off a dislocated right ring finger, and the Los Angeles Lakers ran circles around the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in a showdown between the league's elite teams.

Spain's Pau Gasol had 22 points with 12 rebounds, while Bryant collected 20 points along with 12 assists as the host Lakers beat the league-best Cavaliers 105-88 on Monday night.

"This is a significant victory for us, but we have to make sure we play close or similar to what we played tonight in every other game," Gasol said. "The defensive effort was outstanding tonight."

Bryant injured the digit two minutes into the first quarter while defending James. Lakers' trainer Gary Vitti popped it back in place and taped it, allowing the reigning league Most Valuable Player to resume play.

"That might have been the worst pain I ever played with," said Bryant, who will have X-rays on Tuesday. "I dove for the ball, and my finger popped out. I was afraid I was done. It felt like I had two fingers on one, it was just disgusting.

"I had to play through it," he added. "I'm glad we got through this."

Andrew Bynum and Sasha Vujacic had 14 points apiece, Derek Fisher added 14 and Trevor Aria chipped in with all 10 of points in the final quarter for the Western Conference-leading Lakers (32-8) who stopped a five-game slide against the Cavs.

James had 23 points on an icy 9-of-25 shooting for the Cavaliers (31-8) who dropped one-game behind idle Orlando (33-8) for the top spot in the East and best record in the NBA following their worst loss of the season.

"The shots we made in the first half, we didn't make in the second half," James said. "When you don't make your shots against the Lakers, they can pull away. They did a good job defensively."

Still, "King James" enjoyed another head to head meeting against Bryant, that finished to a near-draw between the two celebrated superstars in front of a sold out Staples Centre crowd.

"It's always great when you go against the best, because it brings out the best in you," he said. "Kobe is one of the ultimate competitors we have in our game today. I enjoy that. I enjoy going against him."

Los Angeles carried a 75-66 cushion into the final quarter, and with Bryant scoring nine points to spark a 16-7 run, the lead grew to 91-73 with 6:33 remaining. The Cavaliers came back with 11 unanswered points to pull within 91-84, just three minutes later.

The Lakers regrouped, however. Fisher hit a high-arching jumper, Gasol followed with a dunk. Ariza scored the next eight points, including a pair of three-pointers to seal the victory.

Elsewhere: Houston Rockets 115, Denver Nuggets 113 China's Yao Ming scored 31 points, and the Rockets escaped with their fifth win in the last six games after Kenyon Martin missed a pair of game-tying free throws with 2.6 seconds left.

Dallas Mavericks 95, Philadelphia 76ers 93 German wunderkind Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points, including a 20-foot fade-away jumper at the buzzer, and the visiting Mavericks snapped the Sixers' season-high seven-game winning streak.

Boston Celtics 104, Phoenix Suns 87 Rajon Rondo scored 23 points, Ray Allen had 20 and the defending NBA Champion Celtics (34-9) spanked the visiting Suns for their fifth straight victory.

New Orleans Hornets 103, Indiana Pacers 100 Chris Paul's three-pointer just before time expired capped a 27-point effort, giving the short-handed Hornets the home victory over the Pacers despite 30 points by Danny Granger.

New York Knicks 102, Chicago Bulls 98 Quentin Richardson scored 24 points, and Chris Duhon added 12 of his 19 in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead layup with 31 seconds left, sparking the host Knicks past his former team.

Atlanta Hawks 87, Toronto Raptors 84 Joe Johnson scored 28 points, including a key jumper with 12 seconds left, Josh Smith added 22 with 14 rebounds and the Hawks handed the struggling Raptors their sixth straight loss.

San Antonio Spurs 86, Charlotte Bobcats 84 Tim Duncan had 17 points, 11 rebounds and blocked Raymond Felton's game-tying floater in the closing seconds as the Spurs escaped with the road win when Boris Diaw missed the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.

Minnesota Timberwolves 94, LA Clippers 86 Al Jefferson had 20 points with a season-high-tying 17 rebounds, Craig Smith also scored 20 and the surging Timberwolves rolled to their seventh win in the last eight games, by sending the host Clippers to their 12th loss in the last 13 games.

Golden State Warriors 119, Washington Wizards 98 Jamal Crawford tossed in 28 points, Stephen Jackson added 26 and the host Warriors (13-29) whipped the Eastern Conference-worst Wizards for their third win in the last four games.

Detroit Pistons 87, Memphis Grizzlies 79 Allen Iverson scored 27 points, and the visiting Pistons ended a five-game slide, while sending the slumping Grizzlies to their sixth straight setback.

Portland Trail Blazers 102, Milwaukee Bucks 85 Greg Oden had a career-high 24 points with 15 rebounds, LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points and nine rebounds as the host Blazers bounced the Bucks.