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It was another night of balanced scoring and defense for the Cavaliers, who in the end had to struggle, but eventually got the job done, topping the New York Knicks 98-93 at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs are starting to eye that ever important number one seed in the Eastern Conference, as with the win and the Celtics loss, they are 3.5 games ahead of Boston for that number one seed.

Mo Williams continues to shine, as he led the team with 23 points. LeBron James had 19 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists. Three other Cavaliers were in double figures, led by Delonte West, who played despite a bruised back and had 13 points. Joe Smith added 10 off the bench for the Cavs with seven rebounds.

The match-up with the Knicks was a bit of a tussle, as the Cavs seemed to play just a step behind their usual self, this coming from a team that had just come home with a 3-0 mark on the west coast. The Knicks didn’t go away quietly, as they trailed by 7 at the half at 50-43, but then outscored the Cavs 29-24 in the third quarter to trail just 74-72 entering the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter went back and forth as the Cavs tried their hardest to put the Knicks away, but led by Nate Robinson (20 points), New York kept it close. Robinson made a jump shot at the 8:17 mark to make it 79-77 Cleveland, and a Larry Huges lay-in with 7:29 left tied it at 79.

The Cavs went up 83-81 with a pair of free throws from Zydrunas Ilgausaks, then got a huge rebound from their center and then a back breaking three from Sasha Pavlovic with 5:19 to go to make it 86-81. The Knicks would never get closer than three after that, as the Cavs made their free throws down the stretch and back-to-back layups from Anderson Varejao to ice the contest.

Cleveland sits now at 53-13 on the season, and continue to put the heat on for the leagues best mark to go along with the #1 seed in the East. They will have a tough test on Tuesday night as they host Dwight Howard and the Magic at 7pm. The Knicks fall to 28-38 with the setback.