CLEVELAND — There was a dramatic shot, a questionable call — or two — in the closing seconds and a frenzied crowd.

On an unseasonably warm night in March, it sure felt like June. The NBA playoffs don't start for another month. Tell that to the Magic and Cavaliers.

LeBron James dropped a long 3-pointer with 47.4 seconds left and added two free throws with 8.7 seconds to go to finish with 43 as Cleveland avoided just its second loss at home with a 97-93 win over Orlando last night.

With Cleveland trailing 93-92, James, wearing green and white Nikes to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, pulled up in front of Orlando's bench and knocked down his 3. It may have said "Irish" on the back of his shoes — his high school's nickname — but there was no luck involved.

"That was just being confident. Being down one and taking a 3, a lot of people wouldn't have done that," James said. "I'm one of the guys who would do that. I knocked it down."

On Orlando's next possession, Magic center Dwight Howard was called for a 3-second violation by referee Jack Nies, giving the ball back to Cleveland.

A steamed Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy couldn't fathom a whistle at that point.

"You won't see that call again. That, I guarantee you," Van Gundy said. "You will not see, with the game on the line, a 3-second call in the last 10 seconds. That's part of the reason they're 30-1 at home. They're a very good team, and when you get calls like that (expletive), you're in pretty good shape."

James was then fouled while shooting by rookie Courtney Lee — another iffy call — and made his two free throws. He scored 21 of Cleveland's last 31.

Rashard Lewis missed a 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left for the Magic, who came in with the Eastern Conference's best road record, but couldn't stop the Cavs from getting to 30-1 at home.

76ers 94, Lakers 93: Andre Iguodala had 25 points, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer, helping visiting Philadelphia overcome a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Los Angeles, which fell to 30-5 at the Staples Center.

HAWKS 119, KINGS 97: Al Horford had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Josh Smith added 21 points and 10 rebounds, helping host Atlanta beat Sacramento to improve to 26-7 at home with its sixth straight victory.

SPURS 93, TIMBERWOLVES 86: With Tim Duncan taking the day off, Tony Parker scored 24 points and Roger Mason added 15 to lead host San Antonio past Minnesota.

MAVERICKS 103, PISTONS 101: Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points and Dallas led from start to finish to beat Detroit, which played without Richard Hamilton (groin problem), Rasheed Wallace (calf) and Allen Iverson (back).

JAZZ 103, WIZARDS 88: Kyle Korver scored 15 points on his 28th birthday to lead six teammates in double figures as Utah ended a three-game losing streak by beating Washington.

BULLS 127, CELTICS 121: John Salmons poured in 38 points, helping Chicago hand Boston, which was trying to clinch a share of the Atlantic Division, its second straight loss.

Warriors 127, Clippers 120: Monta Ellis scored 29 points, Corey Maggette had 21, and host Golden State ended the first half with an 18-7 run to take a 59-51 lead into intermission and never trailed again.

NOTES

Rockets: Houston forward Carl Landry is expected to miss one to three weeks after he was shot in the left leg early yesterday while driving near his home. The injury was minor, and the team said Landry was treated at a hospital and released. Houston police said Landry was driving his sport utility vehicle southbound on a city street, when a northbound car swerved into his path and collided with his vehicle. Both vehicles made U-turns and collided again. Landry got out of his SUV to inspect the damage, and was shot by one of the two occupants of the car.