There were just four NBA games on Tuesday, and the Cleveland Cavaliers started the night's action with a strong second-half performance to beat the Boston Celtics.

The Cavs trailed by six at half time, but then limited Boston to only 31 second-half points as they ran out 89-77 winners to cement first place in the Eastern Conference.

LeBron James top-scored with 24 points, while Kevin Love had 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

In the late game, the Los Angeles Lakers won for just the fourth time in 25 fixtures this season by downing the Milwaukee Bucks 113-95.

Kobe Bryant scored 22 on an improved 7-15 shooting as the Bucks, who surprisingly ended the Golden State Warriors' winless start to the season on Saturday, dropped to 10-16.

The Sacramento Kings won for the third straight game with a 107-97 success over the Houston Rockets.

DeMarcus Cousins (26 points, 12 rebounds) and Rudy Gay (17 points, 13 rebounds) and Darren Collison (14 points, 13 assists) all had double-doubles in the win for Sacramento.

At Target Center, the Minnesota Timberwolves lost for the 10th time in 13 home games as the Denver Nuggets came out on top 112-100.

Randy Foye and Kenneth Faried both had 19 points as in-form Denver won for the sixth time in seven games to move up into the Western Conference's final playoff spot.

Results in full: Cleveland Cavaliers 89-77 Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets 112-100 Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets 97-107 Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks 95-113 Los Angeles Lakers