James takes charge for Cavaliers

With so much on the line and the game slipping away, LeBron James wasn’t going to take a back seat.

James scored 39 points, including seven in overtime, to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to 112-108 win over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday at Chicago.

Trailing, 108-104, with a minute left in overtime, James banked in a runner, was fouled and converted the three-point play to make it 108-107 with 42.3 seconds left. Then Ben Gordon drove to the lane and missed a wild shot. James got the rebound and put Cleveland ahead for good with a jump shot in the lane that made it 109-108 with 20.7 seconds left.

“We were down four and I just wanted to be aggressive,” James said. “I didn’t want to settle. I got a switch with Kirk Hinrich on the first one and got an and-one, and we came up with a good defensive stop and I was able to get into the lane and shoot a floater off the backboard to put us up one with 20 seconds to go.”

Cleveland leads Chicago by 1 1/2 games for second place in the Eastern Conference. The three division winners are guaranteed spots among the top four seeded teams in the playoffs, meaning the Bulls would be seeded fifth despite holding the third-best record in the conference if they finish behind Cleveland.

New Jersey 86, Philadelphia 82 -- The Nets posted one of their best defensive games of the season in shutting down the 76ers at Philadelphia. The fewest points they have allowed in a game this season was 78. The loss dropped Philadelphia five games behind in the race for the final playoff spot in the East.

New Orleans 103, New York 94 -- The Hornets held the Knicks to one basket in overtime at Oklahoma City. Chris Paul scored seven of his 16 points in the extra period, when the Knicks went one for eight from the field. Paul’s three-point basket gave New Orleans a 97-92 lead.