The defending Eastern Conference champions Cleveland Cavaliers enjoyed 30 points from LeBron James in a 89-73 win over the Detroit Pistons in Detroit's first visit since last year's NBA playoffs.

The Cavaliers still trail the Central Division-leading Pistons by 10-and-a-half games, but sent a message to the team they beat in last season's Eastern Conference finals.

"We took five steps forward, especially on the defensive end," James said. "We didn't execute like I think we can, but we did down the stretch.

"It's not a statement game. It's just another regular-season game. For us, we want to continue to get better and tonight we did. We took more than one step forward tonight."

Cleveland overcame a 2-0 series deficit to upset the Pistons and win the East title in six games last season, and appear to be finding their form again after an 11-player trade last month.

"I'm excited about this team," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "I do like this team. It's an intelligent team. It's a team that plays hard.

"I think we can be really deep and if we're really deep with all of the guys that have played, it's going to help us when it's money time - which is playoffs."

Cleveland (39-30) had lost three of its previous four but shut down Detroit's offense a day after the Pistons poured in 136 points in a win over Denver, holding Detroit to 40 percent shooting from the floor.

"Offense was our problem," said Detroit coach Flip Saunders. "They took some things away and we didn't take advantage of what they gave us."

James also had seven rebounds and six assists as he moved to within five points of the franchise career points record, held by Brad Daugherty.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 20 points and Wally Szczerbiak 10 for the Cavs, who have won eight straight games at home.

Rasheed Wallace led the Pistons with 16 points and Richard Hamilton added 14 for Detroit (49-19), still holders of the second-best record in the NBA after losing for just the second time in their past seven games.

Reuters