Determined James leads Cavs to victory over Bucks
NEW YORK (Reuters) – LeBron James sank the go-ahead basket
with 18 seconds remaining to lift the Cleveland Cavaliers to an
89-86 home victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday.
James bagged 22 points in total, added 12 assists and nine
rebounds to narrowly miss his fourth triple-double of the
season as the Cavaliers snapped a two-game losing streak, much
to the delight of 19,126 fans.
“We won. That’s all that matters to me,” James told
reporters after the game.
James has seven triple doubles in his career and three
already this season, but it was his determination to score the
go-ahead basket late in the game that was the deciding factor
on Monday.
Trailing 86-85 with 30.4 seconds to play, the Cavaliers
gave the ball to James and he powered past Bobby Simmons for
the lay-up to put the Cavs ahead to stay.
Milwaukee missed on its next chance and Donyell Marshall
added another dunk with 9.7 seconds left to complete the
scoring.
“They just left me alone,” Marshall told reporters about
his basket, which turned out to be the final one of the game.
Drew Gooden and Sasha Pavlovic both added 15 points for the
Cavaliers, who led 44-37 at the half.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas chipped in with 13 points and seven
rebounds for Cleveland, which shot 49 percent while holding the
Bucks to 39 percent from the field.
Simmons led the Bucks with 21 points and also had eight
rebounds, while Michael Redd added 18 points.
Jamaal Magloire had 10 points and hauled down 11 rebounds
for Milwuakee, while T.J. Ford just missed a triple double with
12 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
In East Rutherford, Richard Jefferson scored 26 points and
the New Jersey Nets won their 11th straight game at home,
downing the New Orleans Hornets 99-91.
Vince Carter added 21 points for the Nets, while Jason Kidd
just missed his 71st career triple double with 14 points, 11
assists and nine rebounds.
New Jersey (25-21) is just two wins away from tying the
franchise’s home court winning streak record of 13 ,set twice
previously.
Speedy Claxton led the Hornets with 23 points, but was held
off the scoresheet in the fourth quarter.
New Orleans (24-23) saw its four-game winning streak
snapped.
In Miami, Dwayne Wade had 34 points, eight rebounds and
eight assists as the Heat beat the Boston Celtics 114-98.
Shaquille O’Neal added 21 points for the Heat, who have won
five of their past six games. Udonis Haslem had 17 points for
Miami, which shot 51 percent and had a 55-41 halftime lead.
Paul Pierce scored 31 points to lead the Celtics, who lost
their sixth straight game. Raef LaFrentz added 18 points for
Boston.
In Philadelphia, Yao Ming had 27 points and 12 rebounds as
the Houston Rockets won their fourth straight game, beating the
76ers 87-81.
Rafer Alston added 19 points for the Rockets. Allen Iverson
had a game high 32 points for the Sixers and Chris Webber had
18 points and 15 rebounds.
(Writing by Roger Lajoie in Toronto)