Cavalier in chief: LeBron asserts himself inside, scores 41 points as Cavaliers blow out Bulls
NorthCoastNOW
CLEVELAND — If kings had to run for re-election, LeBron James would carry Cleveland in a landslide.
A day after Barack Obama won the presidential election, James resumed his reign inside Quicken Loans Arena, where he led the Cavaliers to a 107-93 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
All James did was put up a season-high 41 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals, and he did it after suffering a mildly sprained left ankle late in the first period.
“It was 41 (points) good,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said when asked about his superstar’s ankle.
Almost all of James’ points came inside, as he continually used his amazing 6-foot-8, 250-pound frame to bull his way past undersized Bulls defenders. James finished 13-of-23 from the field and 15-of-16 from the line, with 35 of his points coming as a result of drives to the hoop.
“That’s just who I am,” James said. “I’ve always been an attack guy.”
“I wanted to be aggressive all night long,” he added. “That’s a young team. I wanted to keep on attacking.”
“The King” was at his best when his team needed him most. After Chicago cut what was once a
17-point deficit to seven with 6:54 to go, James re-entered and immediately assumed his throne, scoring seven straight points to effectively end the game.
“That’s me,” James said. “We have a veteran ballclub. We don’t get rattled if a team cuts into our lead. When it’s time for me to go out and close a game, I’m capable of doing it. I was able to do it tonight.”
The Cavaliers also got 15 points and 10 rebounds from Zydrunas Ilgauskas, 16 points from Delonte West and 13 points from Mo Williams. Ben Wallace pulled down 14 rebounds, giving him 27 boards and zero points over the last two games.
“He’s been an animal,” Brown said of Wallace, who had six offensive rebounds.
Ben Gordon came off the bench to lead Chicago with 31 points, while rookie Derrick Rose, the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, added 20 points and seven assists for the guard-dominated Bulls.
No Chicago player, however, could match up physically with James, who scored on a variety of twisting drives, some going right, some going left.
“He was really efficient tonight,” Brown said. “I really liked the way he was attacking the rim.”
The Cavaliers, who began a stretch in which they play five out of six games at The Q, shortened their rotation to eight players, with Sasha Pavlovic and J.J. Hickson playing only in garbage time.
It paid dividends, as Cleveland led 57-45 after a first half highlighted by the sixth 3-pointer (in 39 attempts) of Ilgauskas’ 11-year career. It came from the right corner off what was actually a set play, with James delivering the pass from the right elbow.
Once the Cavaliers figured out a way to slow down Rose, who scored eight of Chicago’s first 10 points and assisted on the other bucket, they took control.
Cleveland went up eight late in the first quarter on a scary set of back-to-back baskets by James, who had 18 points, five rebounds and three assists in the first half.
The first hoop came off a lob pass, but James landed on Rose’s foot, came up limping and did not run back to the defensive end. Chicago forced a quick shot and the Cavaliers rebounded and passed ahead to James, who gently put in a left-handed layup before being removed from the game with 59.9 seconds to go in the first quarter.
James was attended to by trainer Max Benton behind the Cleveland bench and later did some stretching exercises in the tunnel that leads to the locker room, but returned to action with 7:56 left in the second period and didn’t miss a beat.
“As strong as he is, as quick and explosive as he is, the way he’s attacking the rim right now, whew, he could definitely be a danger,” Brown said.
And the king of Cleveland.
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.
NEXT UP
WHO: Cleveland vs. Indianapolis
WHEN: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Q
TV/RADIO: FSN Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM
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Filed by NorthCoastNOW November 6th, 2008 in Sports.
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