Los Angeles - The Cleveland Cavaliers welcomed back centre Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and sent coach Mike Brown to a well-deserved trip to the desert next month.

Playing his first game in a month due to a broken left ankle, Ilgauskas had 20 points with 11 rebounds, and the Cavaliers extended their franchise record-tying home mark to 22-0 this season, with a 112-95 victory over the lowly LA Clippers on Friday night.

"My timing and conditioning are a little off, but at some point I had to get back to playing," said the Lithuanian native Ilgauskas, who missed 13 games. "I'm glad I was able to contribute and we kept winning at home"

With the victory, Brown and his staff will coach the Eastern Conference in the NBA All-Star Game, to be played February 15 in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Cavaliers (36-9 .800) clinched at least a tie with the Orlando Magic (35-10 .778) for the best winning percentage through Sunday. If both teams should finish with identical records, Brown would have earned his first nod, anyway, because Stan Van Gundy coached the All-Star Game most recently in 2005.

"It's the ultimate team award because of what it represents," Brown said. "It means we have the best record in the East, right now. I definitely wouldn't have been a name to coach these all-stars without the guys in the locker room. I thank them all."

LeBron James scored 25 points, Mo Williams had 23 for the Cavaliers, who outscored their pesky opponents 58-41 in the final two quarters, to match the 20-year-old club mark for most consecutive home wins.

"In the second half, defensively we really stepped it up a notch," Brown said. "I was thrilled to death to see that from our guys."

Rookie Eric Gordon had 27 points, and Steve Novak added 18 off the bench for the Clippers (10-36) who fell for the 18th time in the last 20 games.

Behind by 11 entering the final quarter, the Clippers closed to within 89-83 with 8:50 left. The Cavaliers, however, went on a game-sealing 18-4 run.

Williams triggered the burst with a three-pointer, and Ilgauskas capped it with a jumper and put-back, opening up a 106-87 cushion with just over three minutes remaining. (dpa)