WASHINGTON, May 13 (Xinhua) -- LeBron James scored his second triple-double of the playoffs to help the Cleveland Cavaliers to an 86-77 victory over Detroit Pistons Saturday and cut the deficitto 2-1 in their best-of-seven NBA Eastern Conference series.

    In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points and added 15 reboundsas the Mavericks held off the San Antonio Spurs 104-103 in a nail-biting Game Three of their Western Conference series to take a 2-1 overall lead.

    The Mavericks wasted a 13-point lead and survived a frenetic final six minutes that saw 12 lead changes and three ties.

    Nowitzki showed a little physical toughness, too. The Mavericks trailed 99-98 when Nowitzki drove and stepped on the foot of Spurs superstar Tim Duncan. The German juggernaut's right ankle buckled and he went down to the floor.

    Duncan, who had 35 points and 12 rebounds, fouled out on the play. Nowitzki stayed in the game and sank two free throws to giveDallas the lead with 1:05 remaining.

    Argentina's Manu Ginobili answered with a driving layup. AfterNowitzki passed out of a triple-team to Jerry Stackhouse for a layup and a 102-101 lead.

    Ginobili made another driving shot to give San Antonio a 103-102 lead with 21 seconds to play.

    Stackhouse missed a jumper, but Nowitzki got the rebound and was fouled with 7.9 seconds left. He made both free throws, finishing an astounding 21-of-24 from the line.

    The Spurs had another chance, but Josh Howard and Devin Harris combined to break up a dribble handoff play designed for Ginobili.Harris knocked the ball off Ginobili and out of bounds with 2.5 seconds to go.

    Harris scored a career-high 24 points, Jason Terry added 19 andJosh Howard 12 for the Mavericks, who made 39-of-50 free throws.

    Ginobili scored 24 points and Parker added 15 for the Spurs, who sank 10 of their last 11 shots, but came up just short.

    Nowitzki expects to play in Game Four on Monday, when the Mavericks can take control of the series if they remain tough.

    In Cleveland, the Cavaliers got back into their Eastern Conference semifinal series behind the brilliance of James.

    James scored 15 of his 21 points in the decisive fourth quarterand added 10 rebounds and 10 assists as the fourth-seeded Cavaliers closed the gap to 2-1 and snapped the four-game winning streak of the top-seeded Pistons.

    For three quarters, James was willing to set up teammates -- particularly Brazilian forward Anderson Varejao, who scored 16 points. But he took over in the final period, when Cleveland erupted for 33 points and pulled away.

    James made a driving shot, a steal and two free throws to give Cleveland a 76-70 advantage with 2:20 remaining. He sank a 3-pointer and passed to Damon Jones for a 3-pointer, pushing the lead to 84-74 bulge with 40 seconds left.

    Flip Murray scored 13 points for the Cavaliers, who have a chance to draw even at home on Monday. Richard Hamilton scored 22 points and Chauncey Billups added 20 for the Pistons, who had justone basket in the last five minutes. Enditem