The only person able to stop Tracy McGrady was the Orlando Magic star himself. LeBron James, meanwhile, tried to get back up to speed.

James scored 16 points in his first game back from a sprained ankle to help Cleveland overcome McGrady's shooting spree in the Cavaliers' 99-98 home victory over Orlando on Monday night.

McGrady tied an NBA record with eight 3-pointers in the first half, but played just five minutes after halftime because of a toe injury.

``There was no way to stop him,'' Cavs coach Paul Silas said.

McGrady decided not to risk hurting his toe worse, and benched himself with 6:32 left in the third quarter.

``I know myself,'' McGrady said. ``I made the decision myself. It's pretty disappointing. ... Somehow, some way, my foot got stubbed. It hurt. I felt I couldn't go anymore.''

He finished with 36 points _ 34 in the first half _ in 25 minutes, going 11-for-19 from the floor overall and 8-for-10 on 3s.

``He put on a show,'' said Carlos Boozer, one of four Cavaliers who tried to guard McGrady. ``We tried everything. Everything! It didn't matter. It was an incredible performance.''

In other NBA games Monday night, it was: Miami 95, Houston 81; Milwaukee 93, San Antonio 92; Minnesota 97, Denver 95; Portland 94, Washington 83; and Utah 98, Los Angeles Clippers 93.

Orlando had a chance to win after Cleveland's Eric Williams missed two free throws with 7.5 seconds left, but Rod Strickland shot an airball from the lane just before the horn sounded.

James, who missed three games because of the ankle injury, added five rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes, but he sat the final 4:51 after forcing a couple of shots. The rookie star didn't decide to play until just before tipoff.

``I thought I could make an impact by coming back,'' James said. ``I didn't want to chance it and come back too soon. But I was confident I could play.''

Boozer led the Cavs with 23 points and 16 rebounds, Dajuan Wagner had season-high 21 points, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Juwan Howard added 21 points for Orlando.

McGrady tied Tim Thomas (2001), Michael Redd ('02), Ray Allen ('02) _ all of Milwaukee _ and Kobe Bryant ('03) of the Los Angeles Lakers for the most 3s in a half.

Heat 95, Rockets 81

At Miami, the Heat's Stan Van Gundy pulled even in the first-year coaching rivalry with younger brother Jeff.

Jeff Van Gundy won the only other showdown between the siblings when Houston beat Miami on Nov. 11.

Eddie Jones led Miami with 27 points, and Lamar Odom added 20. Houston's Yao Ming, who scored a career-high 37 points Sunday against Orlando, had 12 in 28 minutes.

Bucks 93, Spurs 92

At Milwaukee, San Antonio's Tim Duncan had an apparent winning dunk as time expired waved off after officials reviewed the play, giving Milwaukee the victory.

Replays showed Duncan still had the ball in his hand when the light atop the backboard was lit, signifying the game was over.

Tim Thomas led Milwaukee with 22 points and eight rebounds, and Michael Redd had 21 points, including a driving basket over Duncan with 21.9 seconds left. Tony Parker scored a season-high 26 points for San Antonio.

Timberwolves 97, Nuggets 95

At Denver, Kevin Garnett had 31 points and 13 rebounds, and Latrell Sprewell tipped in a shot with 16 seconds left to lift Minnesota past the Nuggets.

With the victory, Minnesota coach Flip Saunders wrapped up the Western Conference head coaching spot in the All-Star game. Although Sacramento can catch Minnesota for the best winning percentage in the conference through the Feb. 1 cutoff, Kings coach Rick Adelman is not eligible to coach in consecutive seasons.

Sam Cassell added 22 points, and Sprewell 13 to help Minnesota push its winning streak to five games. Andre Miller had a triple-double for Denver with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Trail Blazers 94, Wizards 83

At Washington, Damon Stoudamire hit six 3-pointers for all 18 of his points and added a season-high 11 assists for Portland.

Rasheed Wallace and Zach Randolph had 16 points apiece, and Darius Miles scored 10 points in his second game _ and first start _ since being acquired from Cleveland last week.

Juan Dixon had a career-high 30 points for the Wizards.

Jazz 98, Clippers 93

At Salt Lake City, Carlos Arroyo scored 20 points and Greg Ostertag had a season-high 18 to help Utah snap a five-game losing streak. Elton Brand led Los Angeles with 18 points.