LeBron James Archives February 2008 LeBron James Archives February 2008    LEBRON JAMES DEFEATED REDD'S LAST SECOND BUZZER BEATER February 27, 2008 - LeBron James scored 35 for the Cavaliers, who had trouble establishing chemistry with four new players in their second game since making a blockbuster trade. James had just hit a game-tying layup with 5.9 seconds left when Redd charged down the court and was stopped by Cleveland's Wally Szczerbiak, who forced Redd to launch a 27-foot shot from the left side that sailed through the basket. After a replay review, officials ruled the shot was good and the game was over. Cleveland players just shrugged it off. "There's nothing you can do about that,'' James said. "The guy made a 35-footer fading away. You know, we made plays, gave ourselves a chance to win, but a big shot cost us.'' The Cavaliers were troubled by the fact that they gave up 25 fast-break points to a team that isn't normally very good in the open court. And Cleveland didn't seem to appreciate being on the losing end of a 37-14 free-throw disparity, either. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS VS. MILWAUKEE BUCKS GAME HIGHLIGHTS "It's really, really mind-boggling to me,'' Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "That's the only thing I question in the game. Otherwise, I give them credit.'' James only went to the line five times. "I think there were some questionable calls,'' James said. But James didn't blame officials for the loss, saying the Cavaliers were out of place on both ends of the court at times. Cleveland was playing its second game with new additions Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Szczerbiak and Joe Smith, who were obtained in an 11-player, three-team trade Feb. 21. All four players made significant contributions in their first game with their new team, a 20-point victory over Memphis on Sunday. But the Cavaliers' new crew struggled from the start Tuesday night. "We've still got a lot to go,'' James said. "It wasn't going to turn around right away. I said we were going to need a few weeks to get everything in motion.'' Cleveland's four new players shot a combined 15-for-43. "It's still going to take a little bit of time, but that's not why we lost the ballgame,'' Brown said. - NBA.com    LEBRON JAMES SCORES 32 POINTS BUT CANNOT GET WIN February 6, 2008 - LeBron James had 32 points and seven rebounds for the Cavaliers, who sorely missed Drew Gooden, their second-leading rebounder. Gooden sat out with a groin injury, the first game he's missed this season. Houston outrebounded the Cavs 55-35 and Cleveland grabbed only seven offensive boards. "We got outworked on the boards and we got outworked on all the loose balls,'' said Coach Mike Brown. The Rockets also held every Cavalier but James to a dismal shooting night. James went 12-for-23. The rest of the team went 19-for-55. Besides missing Gooden, the Cavs were playing their fifth game without Anderson Varejao, who's out with a sprained left ankle. Varejao and Gooden are both averaging 8.5 boards per game. "When you play big teams, it's going to affect us,'' James said. "When you have 20 rebounds not here, it obviously hurts.'' Houston pushed the lead to 16 before James hit a 3-pointer over Battier in the final seconds of the third quarter to make it 72-59. James had three more baskets early in the fourth quarter during a 12-3 Cavs run that cut the deficit to seven. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS VS. HOUSTON ROCKETS GAME HIGHLIGHTS Battier, Houston's best one-on-one defender, did what he could to limit the NBA's leading scorer. Battier was surprised he managed to score 15 points himself. "LeBron was really, really good tonight, and took most of my focus,'' Battier said. "I think I forgot about my offense a little bit. That guy does that to you.'' James sank two free throws with 3:22 left to pull Cleveland within six, at 83-77, but Yao hit a turnaround jumper 20 seconds later. McGrady missed a 3-pointer on Houston's next possession, but Bonzi Wells rebounded and dunked to push the lead to 10. McGrady was struggling to breathe seven minutes into the game and covered his head with a towel on the bench during the first time out. He returned to the game, but was replaced by Wells with 2:54 left in the first quarter. James missed four of his first six shots, including a one-handed dunk attempt that Yao partially blocked. He hung in the air to hit a jumper in the final seconds of the quarter to cut Houston's lead to 23-19. The Rockets could've led by more, but missed 10 of their 11 3-point tries in the half. The Cavs finished the half with a 12-6 run and trailed 40-39 at the break. McGrady missed all five of his shots in the half. - NBA.com    LEBRON JAMES POWERS CAVS OVER GARNETT-LESS CELTICS February 6, 2008 - James scored 33 points and barely missed a triple-double as the Cavaliers, playing as well as any team in the NBA, beat Boston for the second time this season with a 114-113 victory on Tuesday night. James added 12 assists, nine rebounds and five steals to pace the Cavaliers. According to Elias Sports Bureau, James joined Wilt Chamberlain (1961-62) as the only players to score at least 30 points in nine straight games against the Celtics. "LeBron's just tough. We let him get too comfortable in the first half,'' Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "When you let a great player get comfortable, you're probably going to lose the game.'' With their ninth win in 11 games, the Cavaliers improved to 15-4 since Dec. 25 and handed the league's best road team just its fifth loss away from home. Cleveland also beat the Celtics here in overtime on Nov. 27. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS VS. BOSTON CELTICS GAME HIGHLIGHTS "It definitely means something,'' James said. "We know we can play with any team in the NBA.'' For a change, James, who leads the league in fourth-quarter scoring, didn't have to do it all by himself down the stretch. Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 21 points, Larry Hughes had 18 and seldom-used Ira Newble had 15 for Cleveland. Also, guard Daniel Gibson made a big steal in the final minute to help the Cavs hang on. Rivers refused to blame Garnett's absence for the loss. "We're not going to use the Garnett thing as an excuse,'' Rivers said. "He's not going to be around for the next couple of games. I'm not going to allow them to use that.'' Pierce, too, was slowed by a flu bug that has been working its way through Boston's roster. For three quarters, a matchup between two of the East's top teams looked more like one between two up-and-down Western Conference teams as defense was very scarce. But with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, both teams tightened things up. - NBA.com