CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The last time the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, LeBron James was in ninth grade.
James had 22 points, eight assists and a huge blocked shot in overtime as the Cavaliers ended a 16-game losing streak to the 76ers with a 91-88 victory.
Cleveland had not beaten Philadelphia since April 2, 1999, when James was a freshman at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. In his first NBA game against the 76ers and superstar Allen Iverson, the teenage phenom ended Cleveland's longest current slide against any club.
"To beat that team, anywhere or any place, is an accomplishment," Cavaliers coach Paul Silas said.
The Cavaliers blew a nine-point fourth-quarter lead but forced overtime at 82-82 on a jumper by James with 3:18 left in regulation. They never trailed in overtime and held on in the final minute thanks to James, whose all-around skills include defense, too.
After Cleveland's Darius Miles fumbled a rebound out of bounds with 13 seconds left, Philadelphia ran an inbounds play for rookie Kyle Korver, who sprung open on the left wing. But James swatted the shot out of bounds, preserving a 90-88 lead.
"That was a big block," James said. "They set a screen and used (Allen) Iverson as a decoy. I helped out a little bit. I had to get back to my man. It took me back to my high school days."
"(Use a) shot fake," Sixers coach Randy Ayers said. "Late-game situations, people are always going to go for blocks. Now (Korver) has a reputation, so he's got (to) shot-fake, one dribble, and he may have a clean enough look to get it off."
Korver missed a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and former Sixer Kevin Ollie made a free throw, giving the Cavaliers their first home win over the Sixers since April 11, 1998.
"It's a big win for us. We were up nine, then to lose the lead, go into overtime and win, it shows how much improvement we've made," James said. "We had to learn how to win down the stretch. It's a quality win."
"We had three good looks at it late in the game, so we had our opportunities to win the game," Ayers said.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas had a season-high 28 points and a career-high seven assists for Cleveland, which had a season-best 17 blocked shots. Carlos Boozer made two clutch baskets in overtime and had 15 points and 15 rebounds.
"We won 17 games last year, so we really don't care who we beat," Ilgauskas said.
Marc Jackson had 19 points and 15 boards for the Sixers, who fell to 0-2 in overtime. Iverson, who has the only two 50-point games in the nine-year history of Gund Arena, was limited to 19 on 8-of-29 shooting, primarily by Ricky Davis.
"Anytime you hold (Iverson) under 20, that's a heck of an accomplishment," Silas said. "I thought Ricky did an excellent job."
For the third straight game, Philadelphia was without its starting frontcourt of forwards Glenn Robinson and Kenny Thomas and center Derrick Coleman, all of whom are injured.
After James' tying basket in regulation, each team had four empty possessions. In the final minute, Iverson and Eric Snow missed jumpers for Philadelphia and Ilgauskas missed a pair.
"We gave ourselves a chance," said Snow, who scored 12 points on just 3-of-15 shooting. "We didn't capitalize when we had a chance."
