The Toronto Raptors suffered their first home loss in nine games on Wednesday night, dropping an 86-85 heartbreaker to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Anderson Varejao outfought Chris Bosh under the Toronto rim for a rebound, jamming the ball in for the last points of the game with just 16 seconds left.

Cleveland's LeBron James drives to the net past Jorge Garbajosa of the Toronto Raptors during first half action on Thursday.
(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Morris Peterson's shot at the buzzer fell short of the mark for Toronto (29-25).

Varejao finished with 16 points and was a force in the paint with 15 rebounds, as seven-foot centre Zydrunas Ilgauskas was allowed to remain in Cleveland for family reasons.

"You have to give Anderson Varejao credit, he just kicked our butt," Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said. "We didn't put a body on him and he just beat us out."

All-stars Bosh and LeBron James unsurprisingly led their respective sides in points, though both showed signs of fatigue as both teams played their first game since the all-star break in Las Vegas.

James had 29 points and four rebounds for Cleveland (32-22). Larry Hughes finished with 14 points, while Drew Gooden contributed 13 rebounds.

"This is a total team win but obviously some guys stuck out," said Cleveland coach Mike Brown. "LeBron was LeBron tonight, he was really efficient from the field.

"Drew was terrific rebounding the basketball and Andy was terrific rebounding the basketball."

Another double-double for Bosh

Bosh finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, his 25th double-double of the season.

Andrea Bargnani (18) and Jose Calderon (10) were the other Raptors to score in double figures in a game where the teams were rarely separated by more than five points.

Toronto was unable to gain ground on a team ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings.

"I don't think we played the same aggressive game play we normally do," Bosh said. "We have to stick to the basics.

"And teams know what we're going to do now, that's the interesting thing."

Still, Toronto maintained its 4½ game lead Atlantic Division lead over New Jersey, which also lost on Wednesday.

Bargnani hot early

Bargnani had the hot hand early, nailing a pair of three-pointers as Toronto led by as many as six points. The Raptors went into the first break with a 25-23 lead.

The second quarter featured a rare dunk by Raptor Jorge Garbajosa, capping off his own steal of a Sasha Pavlovic pass. Toronto took a four point lead into the half.

James, who had an uninspired first half, came on strong in the third.

The all-star scored 10 of his team's first dozen points as Cleveland regained the lead and pushed it to 57-51, thanks also to a Daniel Gibson three-pointer.

Bargnani led the Raptors back with a dunk and a trey.

Guard T.J. Ford picked up an offensive rebound in the paint and Toronto went back on top before the teams took turns exchanging points.

Pavlovic converted a James pass for an alley-oop, and Cleveland led 71-70 at the end of three quarters.

Points became more scarce in the fourth, and James drove through the lane for an emphatic dunk to put Cleveland up 80-76 with five minutes left.

Raptors battle back

The Raptors refused to roll over, reeling off the next seven points. Bargnani's jumper was followed by a Bosh tip-in and a three-pointer from Anthony Parker.

But the Cavs clawed their way back, setting up Varejao's winning play off a missed Pavlovic shot.

"Great shot but it all comes down to that rebound," Bosh said. "If I get that rebound, it comes down to a free throw contest, and we probably get out of here with a win.

"I just got caught watching the ball."

Toronto will host Indiana on Friday before embarking on a four-game road trip.

Neither the Raptors nor the Cavaliers figure to be major players at the NBA's Thursday trade deadline, though rumours swirl around Toronto's division rival New Jersey, with Jason Kidd the most prominent name mentioned.