Brown's scheduled family vacation will be re-routed to Phoenix as he'll become just the second coach in team history to have the honor, after Lenny Wilkens 20 years ago.

With the Celtics' Doc Rivers not eligible because he was the coach last season, Brown gets the honor because the Cavs have assured the best winning percentage by Sunday's decision day. He will coach against Phil Jackson of the Los Angeles Lakers.

"It's the ultimate team award; I wouldn't have been named without the guys in the locker room and I thank them; they've been great," Brown said. "It's a nice honor to go with LeBron's family and friends and represent the Cavs organization."

Overall, the team was pleased for its coach but no doubt still was stinging from Thursday's news that Mo Williams hadn't earned a spot on the team.

"They had no choice but to give it to him," James said. "I'll leave it at that, but you know what I mean."

Otherwise, Friday belonged to Zydrunas Ilgauskas. He made his return after missing 13 games with a complicated ankle sprain that fractured a bone. He hasn't truly been right since the injury first occurred Dec. 10.

He certainly looked healthy again, especially playing pick-and-roll games with James and Williams as the offense flowed against the underachieving Clippers (10-36). Ilgauskas nailed a series of mid-range jumpers and was around the rim gathering rebounds, as he normally does, all night on his way to 20 and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes.

As is the design of the offense for the Cavaliers (36-9), the Clippers had to choose which player to cover in the many two-man sets. Most of the time it worked as Ilgauskas hit 10-of-16 shots, Williams made 8-of-16 and James 9-of-17 and the offense chugged merrily along.

"It's always a luxury to have him," said James, who had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists. "The paint is so wide open with him out there, we're excited to have him out there."

Williams added 23 points with six assists, regaining his 3-point touch that was absent in Orlando on Thursday as he hit five of his six tries.

It was also another quality offensive night for Wally Szczerbiak, who stayed hot by making 6-of-10 shots for 15 points. Sasha Pavlovic chipped in 15 to complete the well-rounded offensive effort.

Getting more focus in the locker room, though, was the return of the Cavs' defense, which had been questionable for the past several games. After jumping out to a 20-4 lead, the Cavs seemed to get a little lazy in their coverages, and the Clippers ended up forging a tie at the half.

Rookie Eric Gordon did most of the damage, mixing up drives with accurate 3-point shooting on his way to 27 points. Steve Novak had 19 points off the bench working off pick-and-rolls with Baron Davis, who had eight assists and seven rebounds but just nine points.

In the second half, the Cavs showed much more interest and cleaned things up. The Clippers, even with Marcus Camby and Davis back from injury, couldn't cope. Gordon scored just six points in the second half, and the Clippers ended up shooting just 35 percent as the Cavs build a comfortable edge.

"That's the way we've been playing most of the year," Brown said. "It was good to see."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: bwindhorst@plaind.com, 216-999-5166

BOX:

Cavaliers All-Star coaches

* Lenny Wilkens

1989

* Mike Brown

2009