DALLAS: LeBron James had game highs of 27 points and eight assists Tuesday, powering the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 127-94 victory over Dallas, their largest-ever win over the Mavericks.

The four-time NBA Most Valuable Player also grabbed seven rebounds as the Cavaliers improved to 41-25, second in the Eastern Conference and one game ahead of Chicago for the Central division lead.

Dallas had won five meetings in a row with the Cavaliers and eight of their past nine games against Cleveland.

Kyrie Irving scored 22 points for the Cavaliers while Kevin Love added 21 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. J.R. Smith contributed 21 points and Russian big man Timofey Mozgov netted 17 points for Cleveland.

Chandler Parsons led the Mavericks with 18 points while Monta Ellis had 17 and German star Dirk Nowitzki had 13 points.

The Mavericks fell to 41-25, just ahead of defending champion San Antonio in the fight for sixth in the Western Conference.

The Cavaliers next visit San Antonio on Thursday, the first time James will visit the Spurs since last year’s NBA Finals, when he and his then-teammates at Miami lost to the Texas club.

Spurs 117, Raptors 107: The San Antonio Spurs built a 26-point lead in the third quarter and held off a late rally from the Toronto Raptors to claim their sixth successive win, but lost Tim Duncan to a hyper-extended left elbow.

Duncan finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds but exited late in the fourth quarter when team mate Tiago Splitter fell into his arm.

Point guard Tony Parker scored 23 points for the Spurs.

Kyle Lowery and DeMar DeRozan sparked the Raptors’ comeback with 29 and 21 points, respectively.

Pelicans 111, Nets 91: Alexis Ajinca and Quincy Pondexter both scored 17 points as the New Orleans Pelicans recovered from an early 14-point deficit to rout the Brooklyn Nets.

The Pelicans (36-29) pulled even with Oklahoma City in the race for eighth place in the Western Conference standings, though they trail by mere percentage points.

Pacers 118, Magic 86: Reserve guard Rodney Stuckey scored 25 of his season-high 34 points during Indiana’s 59-point first half as the Pacers defeated the Orlando Magic.

The Pacers got 46 first-half points from non-starters and gained a half-game lead on the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference.

Tobias Harris scored 22 points to lead Orlando.

Lakers 93, Pistons 85: Jordan Hill scored 16 points to lead seven Los Angeles players in double figures as the Lakers held off the Detroit Pistons.

Greg Monroe scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Pistons (23-40), who lost their seventh successive game.