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LeBron James Archives January 2008
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LeBron James Archives
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January 2008
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LEBRON JAMES WINS THE FACE OFF AGAINST KOBE BRYANT
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January 28, 2008
- LeBron James won his personal matchup with Kobe Bryant in a duel of the NBA's leading scorers, tallying 14 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Los Angeles 98-95 Sunday for their fifth straight win over the Lakers. After James' two free throws with
nine seconds to play gave Cleveland a three-point lead, the Lakers took a timeout to formulate strategy. The Cavaliers, of course, focused their defense on Bryant.
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"That's really what you want. You want to not allow Kobe to get a clean look from the start of the play, make those guys make a couple passes, which we did, and not let them get a clean look,'' Cleveland's Larry Hughes said. "Nobody wanted to shoot it.'' Luke Walton appeared to be the player
who should have fired away. "Has to, he's the open guy,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said before quickly adding: "The game wasn't lost on that sequence.'' Walton, who had scored only 17 points in the Lakers' previous five games, shooting 6-for-20, shouldered the blame.
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The Cavaliers took a 94-93 lead on a basket by James with 1:16 remaining, and Bryant drew an offensive foul nine seconds later. After an empty possession by each team, James ran the shot clock down before hitting from outside with 20 seconds to go, giving the Cavaliers a three-point lead. Ronny Turiaf made a follow shot
with 13 seconds left, trimming Cleveland's lead to one point, setting the stage for James' last points and the final sequence. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 16 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 6:14 to play, and Hughes also scored 16 points for the Cavaliers (24-19), who won for the 12th time in 15 games.
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"It helped me for the second half,'' James said. "I was able to get a long rest. I didn't come out in the second half because of that.'' Regarding the final nine seconds, James said: "For them to not even get a shot off, that's what it's been about for us lately. We've been extremely conscious of playing defense the right way.
We thought that Kobe was going to take the shot, of course. We just tried to get a hand up, contain them.'' James also had nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. The Lakers used a 23-9 run to finish the third quarter and begin the fourth for an 84-75 lead. The Cavaliers responded with a 15-2 spurt of their own to take a
four-point lead. Neither team led by more than four points after that. - NBA.com
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LEBRON JAMES LOSES BY A LAST SECOND FLOATER BY MARION
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January 27, 2008
- Shawn Marion made just one shot, the only one Phoenix absolutely had to have. Marion dropped in a baseline floater with 1.1 seconds left for his lone field goal and the Suns burned Cleveland with a season-high 17 3-pointers in a 110-108 over the Cavaliers on Friday night. Marion,
averaging 15.9 points, was 0-for-3 from the floor before he took a pass in the corner from Boris Diaw, faked his way past center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and as LeBron James rushed toward him, arched in his shot on the run.
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James scored 36 points to lead the Cavaliers, but the NBA's leading scorer missed a 3-pointer and a pair of inside shots in the waning minutes. After leaving the floor, James, who was just 6-of-16 in the second half, kicked a trash can in disgust on his way to Cleveland's locker room.
"Some of those shots seemed like they were down in the net and something pulled the ball out,'' James said, shaking his head. The Suns have won 15 of their past 18 against the Cavaliers. Larry Hughes had 25 points and Ilgauskas 21 for Cleveland.
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With score tied at 106, James caught a pass directly under the basket but missed a layup - the ball was almost halfway down before popping out. A few moments earlier, he had another point-blank shot rim out. "I thought they were in,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "I'm sure everyone else thought they were in,
and somehow, someway they just kind of bounced out. That's definitely unusual.'' Stoudemire was then fouled and knocked down two free throws to put the Suns up two with 29.9 seconds left. James powered down the right side to tie it at 108 with 22.5 seconds remaining, and the Suns held it for one shot with Marion
coming through on a night when he wasn't doing much on offense.
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"They made one more play,'' James said. Down by 13 at halftime and 11 with 9:12 to go in the third, the Suns made three 3-pointers and reeled off 15 straight points to take an 80-76 lead. But it was Hughes and not James who countered for Cleveland, scoring 10 points in the final 4:02 to give the Cavaliers a three-point
lead entering the fourth. James learned Phoenix's offense last summer as a member of the U.S. national team. Suns coach Mike D'Antoni was as an assistant for that squad, which ran the Suns' system with Jason Kidd - not Nash - as its point guard. "Unstoppable,'' James said, describing the Suns' shooting, slashing, speedy
offense. "You have to have the right personnel to play that style.'' - NBA.com
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LEBRON JAMES SCORES 23 & ILGAUSKAS IS A PERFECT 10 FOR 10
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January 24, 2008
- LeBron James showered, dressed and then sat down to analyze the evening's boxscore. With so many eye-popping digits to digest, it took longer than usual. A whole lot longer. James scored 23 points, Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 24 without missing from the floor and the Cleveland
Cavaliers destroyed the Washington Wizards 121-85 on Wednesday night for their season-high fifth straight victory.
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"Offensively we were unbelievable, nearly perfect,'' James said. "It was pretty dang gone good.'' Ilgauskas went 10-of-10 from the field, blocked three shots and spent the entire fourth quarter resting on the bench as the Cavs set season highs in margin of victory, assists (39),
points in a quarter (43) and field-goal percentage (56). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Cavaliers, who had a season-low six turnovers, are the first team since 1977-78 - when turnovers became an official statistic - to have at least 39 assists and six or fewer turnovers.
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Cleveland put on a clinic in the third quarter. The Cavs scored 43 points on 16-of-22 shooting to go along with 19 rebounds, 14 assists and zero turnovers. They also went 10-of-10 from the line. After an uninspiring first two months, the Cavaliers have regrouped to win 11 of 13, and at the halfway
point, they look more determined to defend their Eastern Conference title than at any other time this season. "Great teams know when to crank it up,'' said James, who added eight rebounds and eight assists in just 31 minutes.
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It was Cleveland's most lopsided win since beating the Los Angeles Lakers by 38 on Nov. 30, 1994. The Wizards came in 7-2 in their last nine and were expected to give the Cavs a much tougher test. Instead, Washington played perhaps its worst game of the season. "It was painful, bordering on embarrassing,''
Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "They really brought it to us and we didn't respond. We weren't quick enough, we weren't strong enough and we weren't athletic enough.'' - NBA.com
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LEBRON JAMES FACES DWYANE WADE'S BEST BUT STILL PREVAILS
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January 23, 2008
- As the final seconds ticked away, LeBron James gave Dwyane Wade a friendly tap near midcourt. James knew he'd just seen Wade's best. And it still wasn't enough for the Miami Heat to snap this dreadful losing streak. James scored 28 points and added five assists, lifting
the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Heat 97-90 Monday night - his first win in nine career trips to Miami and enough to send the 2006 NBA champions to their 14th straight loss, the second-worst slide in franchise history.
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"D-Wade played incredibly well,'' James said, "but we made more plays.'' Wade scored 42 points for the Heat, who are 8-32 overall - 2 1/2 games better than Minnesota in the battle for the league's worst record. The Heat started 0-17 in their expansion 1988-89 season, and with
defending NBA champion San Antonio coming in Thursday, it's not getting easy anytime soon. "I feel great empathy for our guys,'' Heat coach Pat Riley said.
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Wade scored Miami's final 18 points and had 32 in the second half, both franchise records. The rest of the Heat in the second half? They shot 3-for-21, managing six points. "Right now, we absolutely need him,'' Riley said. "He's doing everything he can do.'' Wade hit a 3-pointer
with 30.8 seconds left to get the Heat within 92-88, before James essentially sealed it with two free throws 4.8 seconds later. Wade's 3 was Miami's only make in 12 attempts from beyond the arc, but marked the team's 129th straight game with at least one connection from long range.
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Cleveland seemed poised to pull away at times in the third, opening the quarter with a quick 7-0 run to erase Miami's lead, and going up by seven points on two occasions later in the period. "The best third quarter we had all season,'' James said. But Wade - who had seven assists in the half,
none in the third period - scored Miami's last eight points of the quarter, including a jumper with 36.7 seconds left to get his team within 72-70 entering the fourth. He went 6-for-10 from the floor in the third, while his teammates combined to shoot 2-for-11. - NBA.com
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LEBRON JAMES LIFTS CAVALIERS OVER THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS
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January 18, 2008
- LeBron James wasn't looking forward to a fourth overtime in three games. So when San Antonio's Manu Ginobili shot the ball for the chance to tie with just seconds remaining, all James could do was hope the Spurs star missed. Ginobili did, and James and the
Cleveland Cavaliers were able to breathe easy. "You know it was down to the last shot again for us going into overtime,'' said James, who scored 27 points in the Cavaliers' 90-88 victory Thursday night. "It was big to see the ball not go in with no time on the clock. Big win.''
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And while the Cavs were careful to treat the matchup like any other in the regular season, it could not have escaped anyone's attention that the win came against the team that swept them in last season's NBA finals. Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 17 points for Cleveland,
which has won three in a row, and Anderson Varejao scored 12 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in their first meeting with the Spurs since June's finals. "The finals are over and done with,'' James said. "One thing we did tonight, we got defensive steps and we made plays
down the stretch. ... We've just got to continue to play well. We've been playing great basketball lately.''
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Ginobili scored 31 points for the Spurs, and Tony Parker added 23 points but missed two free throws with 29.4 seconds to play that would have tied the game at 90. "They both felt good. They just didn't go in,'' Parker said. "I shoot 200 free throws every day. It was a good
chance to show my improvement. They just didn't go in.'' Tim Duncan scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds for San Antonio, which has lost four games at home and dropped to 5-5 in its last 10 overall. A goaltending call against James, coming off a season-high 51 points against
Memphis, gave the Spurs an 86-85 lead with 1:34 to play, but Daniel Gibson's 3-pointer put Cleveland ahead.
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Duncan tied it at 88 before James' winning layup gave the Cavs a 90-88 lead with 33.6 seconds left. Parker, with a chance to tie, missed his two free throws and Ginobili's last-second jumper attempt didn't fall. "I'd do that 10 out of 10 times, you bet,'' Spurs coach Gregg
Popovich said of not taking a time out before the last play. "You're not going to get a better shot than Manu or Tony going one-on-one down the court.'' - NBA.com
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LEBRON JAMES SCORES A SEASON-HIGH 51 POINTS VS GRIZZLIES
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January 17, 2008
- Now this is the way LeBron James likes to go for half a hundred. James scored a season-high 51 points, including 25 in the fourth quarter and overtime, to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 132-124 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.
It was the fourth time the league's leading-scorer has reached 50 points in his career.
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"When we win, it means a lot. Every point counted tonight,'' said James, who is averaging 29.8 points. "I've lost a couple of games scoring 50 points, and I didn't like it too much. To have that accomplishment, and win the ballgame, means a lot.'' Cleveland
improved to 2-2 in games James scores 50. James made 18 of 28 shots and had nine assists and eight rebounds as the Cavaliers handed the Grizzlies their fifth straight loss. James' career high is 56 points against Toronto in March 2005. The 51 points matched
the best scoring performance in the NBA this season. Denver's Allen Iverson had 51 against the Lakers on Dec. 5.
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"LeBron is fantastic,'' Memphis coach Marc Iavaroni said. "I think he's got more passing ability than Magic (Johnson) because he can put it on a dime and with zip. It's a function of his ability to score. He allows people to get free. He's 6-foot-9, and he can see.''
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James had 13 points, and Gibson added 10 to help Cleveland take a 56-53 lead at halftime. Navarro provided a spark for the Grizzlies with 11 first-half points, and Gay had 10. James leads the league in scoring average in the fourth quarter with 9.4 points, and down the
stretch in both regulation and overtime Cleveland had him running the show. In addition to the 25 points in the final two frames, James had four assists. "We have a fourth-quarter team right now that's playing really good basketball,'' James said. "We didn't get stops
like we usually get, but for some odd reason, we know how to execute on the offensive end. We make plays, and we make big plays.'' - NBA.com
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LEBRON JAMES PULLED DOWN A CAREER-HIGH 19 REBOUNDS
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January 13, 2008
- Once again, LeBron James came through for the Cavaliers. James scored eight of his 31 points in the second overtime and pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds to lead Cleveland to a 113-106 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday night.
"My team needs me to make big plays down the stretch and that's what I did,'' said James, who played 49 minutes. "It wasn't just me, though. Everybody made plays.''
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But the biggest were made by James, whose 30-footer gave Cleveland a 103-102 lead early in the second overtime. He followed with a free throw and a jumper before Damon Jones' 3-pointer from the corner gave Cleveland a 109-102 lead with 1:27 left,
putting the game away. Jones, who refers to himself as the greatest shooter in the world, hit the basket that sealed the win, a 3 from deep in the left corner. Jones also received some instruction from James. "He passed up a few and I told him not
to pass them up if I was going to throw him the ball,'' James said.
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The Cavaliers built a 10-point lead late in the second quarter and led 58-51 at halftime. Cleveland has had problems in the third quarter throughout the season, though, and the Bobcats started the period with a 12-4 run and took a 63-62 lead on two free throws
by Emeka Okafor with 8:14 left. The Cavaliers committed seven turnovers in the third quarter. "We played hard and we had a chance to win the game,'' Charlotte coach Sam Vincent said. The lead exchanged hands throughout the final minutes, and Hughes' drive with
1:08 left gave the Cavaliers a 91-90 lead.
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After both teams missed, the Bobcats called timeout to set up a shot, but James knocked the ball away from Richardson. James and Carroll dove for the ball, which rolled out of bounds at the other end of the floor. After first awarding the ball to Cleveland, the
referees conferred and called for a jump ball at center court. James admitted he knocked the ball out of bounds, but the referees didn't see it. James won the tip and Hughes was fouled with 5.7 seconds left, then made both free throws for a 93-90 lead. With no
timeouts, Felton drove the length of the floor and hit his jump shot over Hughes and Varejao to tie the game. - NBA.com
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LEBRON JAMES HAD A BIG 4TH QUARTER BUT IT WASN'T ENOUGH
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January 10, 2008
- LeBron James had another big fourth quarter, but this time it wasn't enough. James scored 14 of his 31 points in the final quarter, but Cleveland couldn't find enough scoring help for its seventh straight win in Atlanta. The good news-bad news
bottom line for the Cavaliers: James scored more points in the fourth quarter than any other Cleveland player had in the game.
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The Hawks knew all about James' flair for big fourth quarters. On Jan. 2 in Cleveland, James had 19 in the final 12 minutes of the Cavaliers' 98-94 win over the Hawks. James then set the franchise record with 24 points in the fourth quarter of
Sunday's 93-90 win at Toronto. "He always comes up big in the four quarter for his team,'' said Hawks rookie Al Horford, who had 10 points and 15 rebounds.
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While others talked about his fourth-quarter prowess, James focused on his team's sluggish third quarter when the Hawks outscored the Cavaliers 29-20. "We took some bad shots in the third quarter, and that's been our Achilles' heel all season,'' James said.
"We knew this game was going to be decided in the third quarter, and unfortunately we didn't play well.'' Cleveland went without a field goal until a tip-in by Ilgauskas with 7:20 left in the third quarter.
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Cleveland cut Atlanta's lead to 77-72 on a 3-pointer by Damon Jones with 2:30 left. Following a 24-second violation on Atlanta, Gooden was called for traveling with 1:46 left, and Johnson scored on a driving layup with 1:25 left to end Cleveland's momentum.
"When you're down so many points sometimes, no matter how many plays you make, if the other team can make one play it's going to kill you,'' James said. - NBA.com
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LEBRON JAMES SITS OUT 4TH QUARTER AS CAVS GO ON TO VICTORY
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January 9, 2008
- LeBron James could have kicked off his sneakers and relaxed with a soda and popcorn. For a change, the All-Star got to spend the fourth quarter watching like an ordinary fan. His workday ended earlier than usual. James showed Seattle's Kevin
Durant how it's done by scoring 22 points, and the Cleveland Cavaliers didn't wait until the end to put away the SuperSonics 95-79 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight victory.
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James, who scored a franchise-record 24 points in the fourth on Sunday when the Cavs (18-17) rallied for a win in Toronto, was able to sit out the final 8:36 as Cleveland coasted to its sixth win in seven games and moved over .500 for the first
time since Nov. 30. "We came in with the mind-set to get the job done,'' James said.
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James and Durant grew close last summer while practicing together with the United States before the Olympic qualifying tournament in Las Vegas. For Durant, it was a thrill to be among the NBA's elite. "Just to have guys like Carmelo, Kobe and LeBron
say "What's up?'' to me, I felt big time,'' he said. "It gave me a boost of confidence.''
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Because of all he has in common with James, Durant has turned to Cleveland's superstar for advice. "He's been like a big brother to me,'' the 19-year-old Durant said. "I'm very fortunate to have a relationship with probably the best player in the world,
and I'm going to take advantage of it.'' James doesn't mind the mentor role. "I was in the same position Kevin was coming into the league and trying to be the face of a franchise,'' he said. "He's having his difficulties in his first year just like I had
my difficulties.'' - NBA.com
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LEBRON JAMES SCORES 24 POINTS IN THE 4TH TO BEAT TORONTO
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January 7, 2008
- For three quarters he was ordinary. Then, when it mattered most, LeBron James was unstoppable. James scored 39 points, including 24 in the fourth, to help the Cleveland Cavaliers rally for a 93-90 victory over the Toronto Raptors on
Sunday. "In the fourth quarter, he was amazing,'' Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "He just took the game over and put us on his back. What a tremendous, tremendous performance.''
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James, who made eight of 10 field goal attempts in the fourth, said tuning out distractions helped his concentration. "I just felt like I was out there by myself,'' he said. "Everything was going right for me and I just felt like I was out
there in practice. The hoop felt like the ocean.'' Forward Drew Gooden has seen James take over before, but said this one was special. "This was impressive because of the circumstances,'' Gooden said. "We were down 20 on the road and we could
have easily given in. He was attacking the basket and knocking down outside shots.''
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With the Cavs trailing 70-57 to begin the fourth, James scored on a layup, a free throw and back-to-back 3-pointers in the first 3 minutes. Damon Jones added two 3-pointers before James tied it at 76 with a jump shot at 6:26.
"I was able to control the tempo in the fourth quarter with my penetration,'' James said, "getting into the lane and kicking out for 3s.'' James' spurt set off alarm bells for Toronto's Jamario Moon.
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"When he started hitting (shots), we knew it was going to be a long quarter,'' Moon said. "I thought we were going to hit some shots, build the lead back up a little bit and pull the win out, but he kept hitting them and they pulled it out.''
James gave Cleveland its first lead with a 3-pointer from the right wing at 3:59, then drained another 3-pointer on the Cavaliers' next possession. "It's hard to trap a guy past the 3-point line'' Chris Bosh said. "He made two or three spot-up
3s and when a guy is doing that, it makes it very tough.'' - NBA.com
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LEBRON JAMES TURNS IT ON LATE VS THE SACRAMENTO KINGS
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January 5, 2008
- A tough loss was looming for the Cavaliers when LeBron James turned it on. And this time, his teammates did, too. James scored 24 points - only two in the fourth quarter - and Daniel Gibson hit a dagger-like 3-pointer with 12
seconds left as the Cavaliers avoided humiliation by beating the short-handed Sacramento Kings 97-93 on Friday night.
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James, who scored 32 points in the second half when Cleveland beat Atlanta on Wednesday, deferred to his supporting cast in the last 12 minutes. He picked up four of his 10 assists when the Cavs opened the final period with an 18-2 run.
Cleveland's bench outscored Sacramento's reserves 23-0 in the final period and 37-17 overall.
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James, who had five assists in the fourth, added eight rebounds and five steaks in 45 minutes as Cavs coach Mike Brown was unable to give his superstar any rest against a Sacramento team that had its sights on an upset. Whenever
he was double- or triple-teamed in the fourth, James found the open man and the Cavs made the Kings pay.
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"I was just taking what was there,'' James said. "Last game I had 19 in the fourth. Guys knocked down shots for us. It has been the other way around lately where I've let the first half come to me and then taken over.'' - NBA.com
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LEBRON JAMES WAS ALMOST PERFECT AGAINST ATLANTA
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January 3, 2008
- From 24 feet, swish. From 22, bottom of the net. From 21, good. From 20, count it. And from 15, LeBron James was perfect when he had to be. James scored 32 of his 36 in the second half, including 19 in the fourth quarter and
12 in the final 1:50 to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 98-94 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night. James, who just celebrated birthday No. 23 - to match his uniform number - began the new year with another dominating
performance, one that has almost become routine for Cleveland's star of stars.
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"He got into one of those zones we all love,'' Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson said. "It was fun to watch.'' After taking only five shots and scoring four points in the first half, James dropped in 13 points in the third and then
took over in the fourth, scoring 19 of Cleveland's 22 over the last 6:51 and making 6-of-6 free throws in the last 16 seconds. "I demanded the ball, went up there and made them,'' said James, criticized in the past for suspect
free-throw shooting.
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Down the stretch, James also got an assist on a 17-foot jumper with 2:33 left by Larry Hughes, who came in shooting just 27 percent in his past five games. Hughes' jumper usually draws groans from Cavs fans, who have been
tough on him all season. But this one, which put the Cavaliers ahead 85-82, was a welcome sight. Hughes quieted his critics for the night by going 6-for-10. "I felt pretty good,'' said Hughes. "I was able to get some open
looks and just step in and not worry about anything and just knock it down.''
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James wasn't perfect in the fourth. After his 3-pointer with 5:23 left put the Cavs up 83-79, he missed four consecutive attempts before knocking down three straight jumpers to give Cleveland a 91-86 lead with 37 seconds to go.
Although he briefly lost his touch, James didn't once think about passing up a shot. "I'm going to continue to shoot,'' he said. "I've always got confidence.'' - NBA.com
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