CLEVELAND _ The Charlotte Hornets were not intimidated by #BlackOutTheQ night or the winning streak the Cavaliers brought into Friday night's game.
For most of the evening, the Hornets found greater success beyond the arc than inside it and gave the Cavs all they could handle.
J.R. Smith provided the winning point with the second of two free throws with 48.2 seconds remaining as the Cavs extended the longest active winning streak in the league to seven with a 100-99 victory at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Hornets had two attempts to win it on the final possession, but 3-pointers by Jeremy Lamb and Kemba Walker missed the mark.
LeBron James finished with 27 points and equaled season highs in rebounds (16) and assists (13) for his second triple-double of the season and 57th of his career. James scored 21 points in the second half.
In his seventh season, Hornets' All-Star guard Walker has never beaten James when he was with the Heat or the Cavs. Walker was injured in the only Hornets victory over the Cavs on Feb. 3, 2016.
Smith added 16 points, Kyle Korver had 13, Jae Crowder 12 and Kevin Love 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Hornets center Dwight Howard made an untoward gesture toward a Cavs fan and enraged the crowd with what looked like a charging call on Love with 4:59 to play. Howard backed down Love and then knocked him down, making the first of two free throws.
From then on, Howard was lustily booed, especially when he went to the free-throw line. Howard finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Hornets (8-10).
From then on, it was a bitter battle for every rebound, loose ball and even foul calls. James' protest got a loose ball foul that would have sent Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to the line changed to an offensive foul that resulted in no trip to the line with 1:04 remaining.
Perhaps searching for the bounce or rhythm that was missing for the Cavs all night, James needed a shoe change at halftime.
Wearing gold Nikes with the initials of his three children's first names written on them, James scored or assisted on all but one of the Cavs' 11 field goals in the first quarter, dishing out eight assists. He finished the half with nine assists, along with six points and four rebounds and had no turnovers.
But something must not have felt right as James changed into a pair of black shoes at halftime.
James pitched in 13 points in the third quarter as the Cavs led 83-82 going into the final period.
After the Hornets opened their largest lead of the game at 72-64 with 7:21 to go in the third quarter, Smith connected on three 3-pointers and Korver added another to help the Cavs tie the game at 76 at the 3:47 mark.
Smith hit three his first five shots of the second half, including 3 of 4 from deep, after going 2 for 5 and 0 for 3 from long range in the first two periods.
The Cavs hit their first three shots of the first quarter, but connected on just 19 of 42 the rest of the half, missing several decent looks. In the first 24 minutes, the Hornets shot better from long range (8 of 15, 53 percent) than they did overall (22 of 48, 46 percent).
Michael Carter-Williams, who entered the night shooting just 22 percent from the field, hit 3 of 6 for eight points with five rebounds and four assists in the first half and finished with 11 points.
The Cavs' lack of rhythm on offense wasted some of their best passing of the season, especially from the starting unit. The Cavs' shot selection wasn't the issue as they missed several good looks.
The Cavs used an 8-0 run, which included a 32-footer by Korver, to open a 44-38 lead with 7:20 left in the second quarter. But the Hornets fought back to take a 52-49 lead, with Carter-Williams score five points in the surge.
Cavs forward Jae Crowder continued to look more comfortable in the offense. He's averaging 12.3 points during the Cavs' seven-game streak and has hit 12 of 32 from 3-point range in that span.
The Cavs won at Charlotte 115-107 on Nov. 15 by outscoring the Hornets 54-40 in second half. In that game, the Cavs had 25 assists on 42 field goals and turned 16 offensive rebounds into 22-second chance points. The Hornets were held to 6 of 26 beyond the arc.
On this night, the Hornets made 11-of-29 from long range _ 11-of-21 through three quarters before missing all eight attempts in the fourth quarter.
