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The New Jersey Nets came into Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday with just two wins in 24 games this season. It should’ve been an easy victory for the Central-Divison leading Cavaliers, but early in the second half they found themselves struggling to hold on to a slim margin.

The Cavaliers led by seven points at halftime, but saw their lead trimmed to just two with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. It looked as if an embarrasing loss to the lowly Nets could be on the horizon, but the Cavaliers, led by their star LeBron James, took care of business over the next 16 minutes to come away with a 99-89 victory.

James scored 13 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, including seven-straight in the third that ended a 10-2 run by the Nets. During that stretch he drove the lane at will, resulting in either a layup or a foul several times.

“We have a lot of great perimeter shooters, and against a zone I need to be the one that’s going to slash and not sit on the outside because I’m able to attack,” said James. ”For the most part that’s where I’m at my best.”

The Cavaliers were unable to completely close the door on the Nets until late in the fourth quarter, even though they shot a much better percentage from the field throughout the game.

The Nets shot just 13-39 from the field in the first half, but trailed by just seven (52-45) at halftime. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, shot nearly 62 percent from the field over the first 24 minutes.

The main reason the Nets were still in the game at intermission was the play of their center, Brooke Lopez. Lopez scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the first half. The Cavalier big men were unable to stop the young center and had to resort to fouls on many first half possessions. Lopez shot nine free throws in the half and capitalized, making eight of them. Although they struggled defensively, Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas made up for it at the other end.

O’Neal and Ilgauskas combined for 22 points in the opening half. O’Neal dominated the first quarter, while Ilgauskas dominated the second.

“When you can get that type of play out of your two bigs it means a lot,” said James.

On most nights, great play from O’Neal and Ilgauskas would equal a Cavaliers blowout, but the Nets ability to get to the foul line kept them within striking distance.

The Nets shot 23 free throws in the first half, compared to just 13 for the Cavaliers.

“We were doing a good job of defending, but we weren’t doing a good job of keeping them off the line,” said Anthony Parker. ”They got the majority of their points in the first half from the line.”

New Jersey was not as successful at getting to the line in the second half. They shot just six free throws after halftime, while the Cavaliers shot 14.

“When we were in attack mode we were able to stretch out the lead,” said James. ”When we settled for a lot of jump shots then they were able to creep back into the game.”

The Nets struggled to get Lopez going after halftime. After looking virtually unstoppable in the first half, he scored just two points in the second half.

“Our guys did a nice job of making that paint look crowded when he caught the ball,” said Cavs coach Mike Brown. ”We did a better job on him in the post.”

Even with the strong center play on both sides it was a relatively undramatic game, at least until late in the final quarter.

With under four minutes and the Cavs up by 11, O’Neal stole the ball from Devin Harris. The 37-year-old passed ahead to Jamario Moon, who went up for a dunk, only to be slapped across the face by Harris.  It resulted in a minor scuffle, and the ejection of Harris (on a flagrant 2 foul).

James immediately wrapped up Harris and got in his face to confront him about the dangerous foul.

“I don’t think he intentionally went for his head, but he caught it, and that’s just a play that we cannot have in this game,” said James. “But Devon’s not a bad player, or a dirty player, he’s never been that type of guy.”

The Cavaliers may not have played their best against the NBA’s worst, but a win is still a win.

“Every game is it’s own,” said James. “You can’t go into a game saying this team only has two wins. That’s when you get bit.”