The Celtics and Cavaliers are beginning to separate themselves from the rest of the Eastern Conference. After a strong start to the season, the Pistons are beginning to fade, while the Clippers are in a downward spiral with all their injuries.

Cavaliers (16-7) defeat Grizzlies (7-15) 116-111

There aren’t enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe how LeBron James has been performing during the Cavaliers’ 11-game winning streak. His ridiculous, but normal for him, stat line against the Grizzlies consisted of 34 points on 13-of-22 shooting and 12 assists.

Memphis is more than desperate for a win and did everything they possibly could to stay in the game. Even after a horrendous second quarter that got them down 14 points at halftime, the Grizzlies fought and clawed their way back to tie the score with 2:10 left in the game. But James scored eight points in the final 1:22 (and the Cavs last 13) to ice the game for Cleveland. Check out a collection of James' highlights. From monster blocks to high-rising dunks and a clutch three, he did it all.

Celtics (20-4) defeat Suns (8-16) 116-111

The last time Suns' guard Devin Booker played in Boston he dropped 70 points in a loss. And while Booker played well, Phoenix had an uphill battle playing against the team with the best record in the NBA.

The Celtics raced out to an initial 31-22 lead, but the Suns hung with Boston, cutting the deficit to six by halftime. Jaylen Brown had 16 first-half points for the Celtics.

Phoenix actually snatched the lead early in the third quarter and the two teams traded buckets until Boston jetted out to an 11-2 run to grab a 10-point lead heading into the final quarter.

The Celtics scored the first seven points in the fourth to go up 17, but the Suns crept back into it. A Tyson Chandler alley-oop dunk with 2:09 left made it a two-point game. But Kyrie Irving clapped right back with a dagger three-point shot. Irving led Boston with 19 points and five assists. Booker finished with 38 points for Phoenix.

76ers (13-9) defeat Pistons (14-8) 108-103

The Pistons fell apart in the second half versus the Wizards on Friday (Dec. 1) and continued that kind of effort in the first two quarters against Philly. After getting down by seven in the first, Detroit continued their lackluster effort and found themselves losing by 16 at halftime.

But finally, in the third quarter, the Pistons snapped out of their funk and started to ball like they have been all season. Reggie Jackson scored 12 points in the third quarter as Detroit outscored Philly 33-17 to tie the game heading into the fourth. The Pistons went up two with 6:55 remaining, but the 76ers responded to go on a 14-4 run to reclaim the lead and the game.

Joel Embiid had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead Philly.

Mavericks (6-17) defeat Clippers (8-13) 108-82

With four starters out for Los Angeles and Chris Paul enjoying life in Houston, it’s turned into the Austin Rivers show in Clipper Land. The Mavericks haven’t had a lot of fun games for their fans or easy victories, but they got both Saturday (Dec 2.). A seven-point first quarter Dallas lead swelled to 21 by halftime. Anything resembling a comeback wasn’t in the cards for the Clippers and they never even sniffed the lead in the second half. J.J. Barea came off the bench to drop 21 points and 10 dimes for the Mavericks.

Hawks (5-17) defeat Nets (8-14) 114-102

Generally, a Friday night in Brooklyn with an early Saturday (Dec.

2) afternoon tipoff would spell trouble for the road team. But Dennis Schroder and Luke Babbitt must have gotten their beauty sleep. Even with injuries to center Dewayne Dedmon and rookie John Collins, the short-handed Hawks came out strong versus the Nets.

Atlanta held a nine-point lead at halftime and thwarted every Brooklyn comeback attempt. The Nets cut the deficit to three twice in the third quarter, but each time the Hawks responded with a shot from deep. In the fourth, a Jarrett Allen layup at the 8:13 mark made it a two-point game, but Atlanta scored the next eight points to shield Brooklyn off again before securing the 12-point win. Schroder had 24 points and six assists, while Babbitt added 20 off-the-bench.
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