Cavaliers, Mavericks on a roll on the road

TORONTO – The Cleveland Cavaliers were forced to overtime to beat the Toronto Raptors, 126-118, on Friday, notching their third straight NBA win.

Mo Williams made back-to-back 3-pointers in the extra period and finished with 22 points while LeBron James scored 36 for Cleveland, which maintained its overall leadership of the league standings.

Jarrett Jack and Andrea Bargnani each scored 24 points for Toronto, which lost consecutive home games for the first time in almost three months.

In Atlanta, Dallas made it six straight wins by edging Atlanta in overtime, 111-103.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 37 points and Jason Kidd had 19 points, 17 assists and 16 rebounds for his first triple-double this season. It was the 104th of his career, third-most in NBA history behind Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson.

Dallas won its 19th on the road, one more than their total last season.

Joe Johnson scored 27 points for Atlanta.

In New Orleans, the hosts erased an 18-point deficit in the second half to beat Orlando, 100-93.

David West scored 40 points and Marcus Thornton added 18, including a 3-pointer that put the game beyond reach.

Dwight Howard led Orlando with 26, but scored only five points after seldom-used 7-foot Hornets reserve Aaron Gray was called up in the third quarter to muscle Orlando’s All-Star away from the basket.

That’s when the Hornets’ comeback began and the Magic ran out of steam, hitting only four of 18 shots in the fourth quarter.

In Los Angeles, the home team limited Philadelphia to just one field goal over the final 3:40, clinching a 99-90 victory.

Pau Gasol had 23 points and 11 assists and Kobe Bryant added 19 points and eight assists for the Lakers.

Samuel Dalembert had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the 76ers.

In Chicago, Luol Deng added seven of his 23 points in overtime, including the clincher, as Chicago pipped Portland, 115-111.

The Bulls, led 112-107, with 2:09 remaining in overtime but Portland fought back and Brandon Roy had a 3-point attempt with five seconds left that would have put the Blazers ahead. He missed and Deng finished at the other end to seal the game for the Bulls with a dunk.

Derrick Rose scored 33 points for Chicago, while LaMarcus Aldridge finished with a season-high 32 for Portland.

In Phoenix, the hosts made it five straight wins, downing Los Angeles, 125-112.

Robin Lopez scored a career-high 30 points, hit 13 of 16 shots and added 10 rebounds, while Amare Stoudemire contributed 20 points for the Suns.

Eric Gordon scored 25 points for the Clippers, whose three-game winning streak was snapped and lost for the seventh straight time to Phoenix.

In Houston, Kevin Martin had his best game since being traded to Houston, scoring 33 points in a 109-104 win over San Antonio.     (AP)