Los Angeles: LeBron James scored 24 points and came up with a crucial late block as the Cleveland Cavaliers edged the Miami Heat 91-89 on Wednesday in a duel for third place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.

Love is expected to miss six to eight weeks — just more bad news in a tough January for the Cavs, who finished the month with a 6-8 record.

Jae Crowder drained a three-pointer from a James assist with 1:21 left to play to give Cleveland a three-point lead. Miami’s Josh Richardson answered with a floater with a minute remaining before Cleveland’s Isaiah Thomas made two free-throws to build the margin to 90-87 with 18.8 seconds to play.

Kelly Olynyk’s layup trimmed the deficit to one point with 12.1 seconds remaining. With seven left Cleveland’s Kyle Korver made the first of two free throws and Johnson, with James defending him, was unable to release the potential game-tying jump shot before time expired.

The Cavs entered the contest as the NBA’s worst-ranked defensive team but limited Miami to 3-of-28 from three-point range. They harried the Heat into 20 turnovers as they held an opponent to less than 90 points for the first time since November.

Elsewhere, the Orlando Magic rebounded from a heartbreaking loss to the Houston Rockets with a 126-105 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Celtics, up by five midway through the third quarter, more than doubled that lead in less than two minutes, seizing an 11 point lead and never letting the Knicks get within single digits again.

Terry Rozier, making his first career NBA start, produced his first career triple-double with 17 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds for Boston, adding two steals and two blocked shots.

Agence France-Presse