CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Shortly after leading the Hornets to a 106-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, Charlotte point guard Jeremy Lin attempted to throw a towel in a laundry bin in the locker room and flat-out missed.

It was one of the few times he missed anything all night.

With starting point guard and leading scorer Kemba Walker sidelined due to a sore left knee, the Hornets needed Lin to step up in Walker's place. Lin obliged in a big way, helping the Hornets end years of misery against LeBron James while totaling a team-high 24 points plus eight assists and five rebounds.

Forward Marvin Williams added 16 points for Charlotte (24-25).

It was Charlotte's first win over a team that included James since Feb. 19, 2010, when the forward was in his first stint with the Cavaliers. James went on to play on the winning side against the Hornets while with the Miami Heat and Cleveland for the next 21 games in a row, including playoffs.

"In the very beginning of the game, I was trying to be aggressive, but at the same time run the team," Lin said. "Kemba, honestly, is irreplaceable. We all know that. We feel like if everyone can chip in a little bit, we can try to make up for his absence."

Center Frank Kaminsky had 15 points and six rebounds for Charlotte, while forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist contributed 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, including 11 offensive boards.

Guard Kyrie Irving led the Cavs (35-13) with 26 points. James added 23, and forward Kevin Love had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

The second quarter featured 11 ties or lead changes before the Cavs closed by scoring the last nine points to take a 58-49 halftime lead.

Lin was instrumental in turning the tide in Charlotte's favor in the third quarter. His three-point play on a driving layup and subsequent free throw after drawing a foul gave the Hornets a 70-69 lead, and he followed that up with a beautiful dish to Kidd-Gilchrist for a fastbreak dunk on the next possession.

Then Lin hit a pair of 3-pointers -- the last coming with 34.8 seconds left in the quarter -- to give the home team an 82-75 advantage entering the fourth.

While Lin was a key, Charlotte coach Steve Clifford also credited the team's overall defense and the play of guard Nic Batum, who returned after battling a toe sprain. Batum added 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.

"It really was a great second half by the entire time, but I think Nic really set the tone," Clifford said.

Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue lamented the lack of rebounding by his team and admitted to being somewhat mystified by yet another slow start to the second half after the Cavs closed the first half on a solid run.

The Cavaliers were outrebounded for the game by a staggering 49-28 margin.

"That's the third game in a row where we have struggled to come out in the third quarter and gotten off to a slow start in the second half," Lue said. "We have to do something to adjust that situation."

James was more descriptive about the Cavaliers' effort in the third quarter, when the Hornets outscored them 33-17 to take control of the game.

"We were (expletive) in the third," he said. "We need to figure it out. I don't know what it is. I know the coaching staff is trying to pinpoint what the case may be. We're doing a good job of playing great basketball in the first half, and our third quarters are pretty awful right now, so we've got to figure it out."

The Hornets never trailed again after moving in front in the third, leading by as many as 15 points in the final quarter. A 3-pointer by Love and a dunk by James pulled the Cavs to within 98-92 with 2:38 remaining, but Lin answered with a pair of free throws and a short pull-up jumper in the lane.

"He came in and made three big plays down the stretch," Clifford said of Lin. "He wants the ball at the end of the game. If you've watched his career, he likes to take the big shots. He delivered in a big way."

NOTES: Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said before the game that an MRI on PG Kemba Walker's sore left knee showed nothing serious. "So hopefully he'll play by Friday, but certainly there's no guarantee," Clifford added. ... Three players who had been out for the Hornets were cleared to play against the Cavs: G Nic Batum (toe strain), G Jeremy Lamb (toe strain) and C Cody Zeller (shoulder strain). ... Clifford said he planned to ease Michael Kidd-Gilchrist back into the rotation by limiting his minutes after the forward returned recently after missing the first 46 games of the season following surgery for a torn labrum in his right shoulder. But after playing Kidd-Gilchrist 37 minutes in his first game back at Portland and another 27 against the Lakers in Los Angeles, Clifford admitted: "That was the plan, but I had never really seen anybody come off an injury and play as many minutes as he did the first night. I was hoping for 20, 22, 24."