Celtics, Cavs downed by teams at bottom of East

LeBron James didn't agree with the traveling call that helped prevent his Cleveland Cavaliers from beating lowly Washington.

A loss to the struggling New York Knicks leaves little doubt Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics are stumbling atop the Eastern Conference.

James was whistled for taking an extra step while driving for a potential tying layup with 2.3 seconds left, and Cleveland lost 80-77 to the host Wizards on Sunday despite wiping out a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

"Bad call," said James, who had 30 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. "We all make mistakes, and I think I got the wrong end of the bargain. I watched it 10 times after the game, and it was clearly a good play."

Garnett, who hurt his right calf when he was kicked late in the third quarter, had only six points for the Celtics in a 100-88 loss in New York, their fourth defeat in six games after a 27-2 start.

"We've just got to come together," Paul Pierce said. "We talked about it after the game amongst the players, what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, and the good thing about this group, we're a strong group. It's just about getting through this period and we know we're a better team that the way we've been playing."

Boston (29-6) needs to shake the slump fast. The conference leader faces the Central Division-leading Cavaliers (27-6) on Friday night in Cleveland.

In other NBA games Sunday, it was: Toronto 108, Orlando 102; Detroit 88, L.A. Clippers 87; Memphis 102, Dallas 82 and L.A. Lakers 100, Portland 86.

At Washington, James dissected the game's key sequence in extensive detail -- even pointing out that he felt he was fouled as he released the shot, which went in and would have given Cleveland the lead.

His biggest beef, though, was with what he considered a misunderstanding of the way he moved to the basket.

"You have your trademark play, and that's one of my plays. It kind of looks like a travel because it's slow, and it's kind of a high-step, but it's a one-two just as fluent as any other one-two in this league. I got the wrong end of it, but I think they need to look at it -- and they need to understand that's not a travel," James said. "It's a perfectly legal play, something I've always done."

Washington's Caron Butler -- who scored 19 points and guarded James most of the game, including on that closing play -- remembers that same move, without an official's call, from one of the teams' recent playoff meetings.

"I definitely knew he traveled, but I didn't know they were going to call it," Butler said. "That was one of them situations in which a great player made a move, good officiating, and they called the call. And I was like, 'Oh, man, there is a God.'"

None of James' teammates scored more than 13 points, the Cavaliers shot 39 percent for the game and they were held to their lowest point total this season.

Antawn Jamison led Washington with 26 points and 13 rebounds, while Dominic McGuire had 10 points and 10 rebounds for his first NBA double-double.

At New York, the defending NBA champions lacked their usual poise, frequently yelling at each other and the officials. They allowed 100 points for just the eighth time in 35 games this season and managed the lowest total allowed by the Knicks.

"We were frustrated," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "I think we were very frustrated in our play tonight. I thought you could see it real early in the game and that's not us, but it was us tonight."

Paul Pierce scored 31 points and Ray Allen added 16 for the Celtics, who lost three of four on its West Coast road trip over the holidays

Wilson Chandler scored a career-high 31 points and New York snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Celtics.

The Knicks seized control in the third quarter, never let it get too close in the fourth.

"It was the way they scored. It was frustrating watching it happen," Celtics guard Ray Allen said.

Raptors 108, Magic 102

At Toronto, Anthony Parker scored a season-high 26 points, Chris Bosh added 23 points and 10 rebounds and Toronto overcame a 39-point performance by Dwight Howard.

Parker was 13-of-16 from the field and came within one point of his career high.

Lakers 100, Trail Blazers 86

At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 26 points, Pau Gasol added 19 and the Lakers won their sixth straight overall and 15th in a row at home.

LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 22 points and 11 rebounds but the Blazers shot only 39 percent overall.

Pistons 88, Clippers 87

At Los Angeles, Rodney Stuckey scored 24 points, Tayshaun Prince added 20 and Detroit got a critical goaltending call in the final seconds to beat the Clippers for their seventh straight victory in a matchup of injury-depleted teams.

Allen Iverson had 18 points and 10 assists for the Pistons, who have beaten the Clippers 12 straight times.

Eric Gordon scored a career-high 31 points, but missed a potential winner at the buzzer as the Clippers dropped to 8-25 with their seventh straight loss.

Grizzlies 102, Mavericks 82

At Memphis, Tenn., O.J. Mayo scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half, and the Grizzlies snapped a 13-game losing streak to Dallas.

Marc Gasol had 19 points for Memphis, which ended a four-game skid overall.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 28 points, hitting 11 of 21 shots.