LeBron James' superb performance carried the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 99-92 victory over the Detroit Pistons on a dramatic night.

Pistons point guard Rodney Stuckey had to be taken to the nearby Cleveland Clinic medical centre after collapsing during the third period. His condition was said to be stable although he was to be kept in overnight.

Stuckey, 23, went to sit on the bench during a time-out when he fell ill, and he was transported out of the arena on a stretcher.

On the court, James scored 40 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers.

The Dallas Mavericks stretched their winning run to 10 games by beating the Sacramento Kings 108-100. Dirk Nowitzki scored a game-high 31 points for the Mavericks.

Only the Los Angeles Lakers have a better record than Dallas in the Western Conference, but tonight they slipped to a 98-93 defeat to the Charlotte Bobcats, who are set to be taken over by Michael Jordan, with Stephen Jackson scoring 21 points. For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant scored 26 points.

The in-form Milwaukee Bucks humbled the Washington Wizards 102-74, with 19 points each for Andrew Bogut and Carlos Delfino.

Josh Smith scored 29 points for the Atlanta Hawks in their 127-122 win over the Golden State Warriors, for whom Stephen Curry finished with a game-high 31-point haul.

The struggling New York Knicks slumped 102-96 on the road against the Toronto Raptors, despite 23 points and 18 rebounds from David Lee. Sonny Weems scored 20 points for Toronto.

Kevin Garnett, with 22 points, led the Boston Celtics to a 96-86 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, while Carmelo Anthony poured in 34 points for the Denver Nuggets in their 122-114 victory against the Indiana Pacers, who had 32 points from Danny Granger.

The New Jersey Nets lost 97-87 at home to the Orlando Magic, and Darren Collison's 32 points could not prevent the New Orleans Hornets losing to the San Antonio Spurs, 102-91.

Kevin Durant, consistently producing 30-point-plus games this season, scored 32 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 104-87.