The Dallas Mavericks left the Cleveland Cavaliers beaten - and LeBron James beat up. The best game on the NBA schedule Wednesday night went to the team with the best record, as the Mavericks forced James into a painful night and topped the Cavaliers 98-90 in a matchup of title contenders.

Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson yells to his players during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 21, 2007, in Cleveland. The Mavericks won 98-90. [AP]

At the other end of the NBA standings are the Boston Celtics, who are so bad that their coach opened his postgame remarks by saying that he wasn't trying to lose.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points for the Mavs, who have the NBA's best record at 56-11, have won four straight and are 3-0 on a six-game road trip that started with a victory over Detroit, the other top team in the Eastern Conference.

"Tonight wasn't about West vs. East, it's about us getting better, getting ready for the playoffs," Nowitzki said.

No such concerns for the Celtics, who are headed to the draft lottery. But Doc Rivers said they weren't trying to improve their position Wednesday when he kept his starters on the bench while Boston blew an 18-point lead in a 92-84 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats, the Celtics' closest pursuers in the Greg Oden and Kevin Durant sweepstakes.

"I was not throwing the game, or anything like that," Rivers said. "I've heard all those questions. Honestly, I got to the point early in the fourth quarter and I turned to the coaches and said to them, 'We are either going to win or lose with this group.'"

In other games, it was: Miami 91, Atlanta 83; Toronto 92, Orlando 85; San Antonio 90, Indiana 72; the Los Angeles Clippers 104, Milwaukee 103; Washington 108, Seattle 106; and Minnesota 95, Sacramento 89.

One night after overcoming a 10-point deficit to beat Cleveland in overtime, the Bobcats scored 18 straight points while Paul Pierce was out with an injury.

"(These are) some big wins, no question," said Raymond Felton, who had 19 points, five assists and three steals. "Now we got to keep it rolling, see what happens at the end of the season. Try to see if we can slide into that last spot."

Dallas and Cleveland have much bigger goals. And the Mavs look closer to achieving theirs, with a deeper team that can handle a poor shooting night from Nowitzki because of players like Josh Howard, Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse.

"This team is not going to win 50-plus games with just Josh Howard and Dirk Nowitzki," James said. "They have great players in Devin Harris, (Jerry) Stackhouse and J.T., and their bigs are very active."

James had a tough night shooting and got roughed up as well. He finished with 31 points but was 12-for-28 shooting as he singlehandedly tried to put his team back in it.

Worse, he banged his head on the floor after getting spun around by Howard while going for a loose ball. He was slow to get up but stayed in the game.

James also took an elbow from Nowitzki with 1:39 left and fell to the floor.

"I'm definitely not feeling 100 percent," James said. "I took two dangerous hits today."

Wizards 108, SuperSonics 106

Gilbert Arenas capped his 42-point night by banking in a right-handed runner as time expired to give Washington a victory at Seattle.

The Wizards kept their slim lead over Miami in the Southeast Division, but it wasn't easy against the short-handed Sonics, who played without All-Star Ray Allen.

Spurs 90, Pacers 72

At San Antonio, Tim Duncan scored 27 points to lead the Spurs over slumping Indiana.

The Spurs, who have clinched a playoff spot, snapped a two-game losing streak that came after they had won a season-high 13 in a row.

Ike Diogu scored 14 points for the Pacers, who fell apart after point guard Jamaal Tinsley was ejected and have lost two in a row.

Raptors 92, Magic 85

At Toronto, Chris Bosh had 34 points and 16 rebounds in outplaying fellow All-Star big man Dwight Howard. T.J. Ford added 16 points and 12 assists.

Toronto ended a two-game losing streak despite missing No. 1 pick Andrea Bargnani, who had an appendectomy earlier in the day and remains hospitalized. There is no timetable for his return. Grant Hill had 24 points and Howard had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, who haven't won consecutive games since Jan. 31 and Feb. 2.

Heat 91, Hawks 83

Jason Williams had 21 points and eight assists, and Miami beat Atlanta for its 10th victory in 11 games.

Josh Smith scored 27 points for the Hawks, who had their five-game home winning streak snapped.

Clippers 104, Bucks 103

Jason Hart made the go-ahead basket from the baseline with 3 seconds left to lift visiting Los Angeles into the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference.

Corey Maggette scored 22 points and Elton Brand had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Clippers. Milwaukee, which trailed by 22 points late in the third quarter, got 27 points from Michael Redd.

Timberwolves 95, Kings 89

Randy Foye scored 24 points, Kevin Garnett had 17 points and 18 rebounds, and Minnesota snapped an 11-game road losing streak.

Sacramento has lost seven of eight.