CLEVELAND — They haven’t eliminated their customary early lapses, but the Cavaliers have been as efficient as Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera when it comes to closing games.

Totally locking down on the defensive end for the second straight night, Cleveland defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 97-91 Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Cavaliers (10-4), who for the second straight night also turned the game around with LeBron James on the bench, held Philadelphia (5-8) to 10 points in the final period. The Sixers were 4-of-23 from the field.

“We know when it’s time to turn it up,” said reserve Jamario Moon, who not only had seven points and four rebounds on the night, but also held Andre Iguodala to 1-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter. “If we can play 48 minutes the way we played the fourth quarter, we’re going to be tough to beat.”

Impossible might be more accurate.

A night earlier in Indiana, the Cavaliers held the Pacers to 13 fourth-quarter points and 4-of-18 shooting. That means that in its last two games Cleveland has outscored its opponents 50-23 in the final period and held them to .195 shooting from the field (8-of-41).

“Defensively, everybody was on a string,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “Everybody trusted one another and everybody helped one another.”

With Mo Williams, Daniel Gibson, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and Moon on the floor to start the final period, the Cavaliers outscored the Sixers 10-4 during the 5:18 James was on the bench, turning a six-point deficit into a tie game.

Once a rested James returned, the Cavaliers, who are plus-12 in the fourth quarter over their last two games with their superstar on the bench, went on an 8-0 run to seize control.

“They can hold the fort down,” said James, who finished with 32 points, seven rebounds, nine assists and five turnovers. “That’s great for those guys. … When I come back into the game, it’s time to really get down to business.”

Williams, who finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists, was just 6-of-15 from the field, but he had six points at the start of the fourth while James sat.

Ilgauskas, who has been struggling mightily for most of the season, was solid with 13 points, eight boards, four assists and two blocks, while J.J. Hickson continued his steady play with 14 points.

The real key for the Cavaliers, who were playing their fourth game in five nights, was defense. After giving up 28 points in the second quarter and 30 more in the third, they locked down at that end of the floor in the fourth period.

“We were disappointed in how we played that second quarter,” Moon said of Cleveland quickly blowing its 13-point lead after the first period. “We gave them too many fastbreak points. We just wanted to come out and be aggressive and make it tough on them.”

Playing without Shaquille O’Neal (shoulder strain) for the fifth straight game, the Cavaliers did exactly that.

Louis Williams had 22 points for the Sixers, while Thaddeus Young had 21 and Elton Brand had 18 and 14 rebounds, but all were held in check down the stretch. Iguodala (12 points, 8 boards, 7 assists), meanwhile, went just 6-of-22 from the field.

The Cavaliers raced to a 20-4 lead at the outset while making one fantastic play after another. James fed Hickson a no-look pass for a dunk, Ilgauskas beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer and threw a lob to James for a slam, then James capped things with a 3-pointer of his own.

Cleveland, which leads the league in first-quarter scoring (30.6), was up 36-23 after one, but took its customary snooze soon after. That allowed the Sixers to go on a 13-2 run and get right back in the game.

Philadelphia went on to lead by as many as six, the last time at the end of three periods, before the Cavaliers closed the game in style in the fourth quarter.

“We just turned it up,” James said. “That’s where we make our mark — on the defensive end.”

Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

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