Matthew Dellavedova couldn't spark the Milwaukee Bucks against his old side Cleveland as a returning LeBron James powered the Cavaliers to a 102-95 NBA win on Monday night (Tuesday AEDT).
James returned from a bout of strep throat to score 24 points while Kyrie Irving added 25 as the Cavs asserted their authority in the final quarter.
James missed Saturday's loss to Chicago - when the Cavs fell to 0-4 this season without their superstar - and was listed as questionable before arriving at Quicken Loans Arena.
He looked fit from the start, delivering an early dunk and adding one in the fourth that triggered an 11-0 run that helped put away the Bucks, who were within 86-85 midway through the last quarter.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 20 to lead Milwaukee, and the Bucks' All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored just nine on 4-of-13 shooting.
Dellavedova scored four points, had six assists and three rebounds in his 32 minutes on court while fellow Australian Thon Maker started but banked only eight minutes that included draining two three-pointers.
The Bucks may have sustained a costly injury as forward Michael Beasley sprained his left knee in the first half.
Beasley's knee buckled grotesquely as he tried to defend James on the baseline. He scored 11 points before going down and had to be helped to Milwaukee's locker room.
He's scheduled to have tests on the knee Tuesday in Milwaukee.
"Obviously everyone was really worried," Dellavedova said.
"You think the worst, but he seemed in pretty good spirits when we got back here. You never want to see someone go down."
Meanwhile, Kevin Durant had 27 points in his return as the Golden State Warriors overcame the worst three-point shooting performance of Stephen Curry's career in a 119-108 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Curry was none from 11 from three-point range.
In New York, DeMar DeRozan made a turnaround jumper with 1.9 seconds remaining to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 92-91 victory over the New York Knicks.
Elsewhere, Seth Curry scored 29 points, Harrison Barnes added 24 and the Dallas Mavericks beat Miami 96-89, handing the Heat just their third loss in 19 games.
Dennis Schroder had 21 points and Atlanta Hawks snapped a three-game skid with a chippy 114-98 win over Boston Celtics.
Jeff Teague scored 25 points and the Indiana Pacers overcame a huge first-half deficit and withstood a late rally by Houston to beat the Rockets 117-108.
It was just the second win in nine games for the Pacers and only their 10th road win of the season.
And in Sacramento, Karl-Anthony Towns had 29 points and 17 rebounds, Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Sacramento Kings 102-88.
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