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Determined James leads Cavs to victory over Bucks

Posted on: Tuesday, 7 February 2006, 00:34 CST

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)

Source: REUTERS

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