NEW YORK — It isn’t the title they ultimately desire, but it’s a start. The real work is yet to come for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron James had 33 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, and the Cavs used a new-look defense to clinch the Central Division title with a 124-91 victory Monday night against the Denver Nuggets.
Cleveland (50-20) endured frustrating moments of inconsistency throughout the season, but it still sealed the fifth division crown in team history and its ninth 50-win season.
“All is not bad,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. “We’re still growing, we’re still getting better on a night-to-night basis and we can celebrate this, but we gotta keep moving forward.”
The Cavs scrapped some of their defensive principles that haven’t been working the last few weeks and returned to the simplified format that carried them to the NBA Finals last season. They held the Nuggets to 39.5 percent shooting Monday and led by as many as 36 in the fourth quarter after Denver’s five starters combined to match James’ 33 points.
“It was embarrassing,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said. “An embarrassing effort. I haven’t seen that from our team most of the year. I’m very disappointed with that.”
Warriors 109, Timberwolves 104: Although it was a close one, the Golden State Warriors still have no concept of a losing streak this season. Draymond Green scored 24 points as Golden State rallied from three points down in the final six minutes, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-104 Monday and avoiding their first back-to-back losses of the season.
Hornets 91, Spurs 88: Jeremy Lin scored 29 points, including the go-ahead basket in the final minute, and the Charlotte Hornets rallied from a 23-point deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 91-88.
Lin’s fallaway jumper with 48.4 seconds remaining gave the Hornets the lead for good at 89-88, then he hit two free throws with 18.3 left to push the lead to three. The Hornets held on as Patty Mills and Danny Green each missed 3-pointers for the Spurs in the closing seconds.
Celtics 107, Magic 96: The scoring of Isaiah Thomas, Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley and Evan Turner drove the Boston Celtics to their second win in 24 hours, a 107-96 victory over the Orlando Magic.
After ending a four-game losing streak with a win at Philadelphia Sunday, the Celtics handed the Magic their 11th consecutive regular-season loss at TD Garden, their 12th in a row counting playoffs.
Pistons 92, Bucks 91: Andre Drummond’s tip-in during the final second gave the Detroit Pistons a 92-91 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at The Palace. Drummond’s putback of a missed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope jumper gave the Pistons (37-34) their third consecutive victory. Milwaukee’s Jerryd Bayless missed two free throws prior to Drummond’s game-winner.
In other games it was: Wizards 117, Bucks 102; Bulls 109, Kings 102; Pacers 91, Sixers 75; Grizzlies 103, Suns 97.
