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Cavs swat Hornets, improve to 20-0 at home
2009-01-16
CLEVELAND - Sick, tired and short-handed. And still, the Cleveland Cavaliers are unbeatable at home. LeBron James, sniffling and wheezing through a head cold, shook off one of his worst games this season to flirt with a triple-double, and the Cavaliers extended their home winning streak to 20 by beating the New Orleans Hornets 92-78 on Friday night. James finished with 29 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists one night after he went 8-of-28 and had eight turnovers in an overtime loss at Chicago. David West scored 23 and Chris Paul 18 for New Orleans, which was whistled for five technical fouls. Paul and James Posey were both ejected in the final two minutes. The Cavaliers, who didn't get home until 4 a.m. because of weather delays, were without two starters: center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who missed his seventh straight game with a broken left ankle and guard Delonte West, who broke his right wrist in a wicked fall against the Bulls and could be out for six weeks. James, though, picked up the slack, as did Sasha Pavlovic, who scored 19 in his first start and made a crucial 3-pointer with 3:41 left that slowed a run by the Hornets. With Ben Wallace still not himself after missing two games because of a stomach virus, Anderson Varejao in foul trouble and Ilgauskas unavailable, Cavs coach Mike Brown went with a small lineup in the third quarter with James at point guard surrounded by four of his best outside shooters. The group didn't produce scintillating basketball, but seemed to take the Hornets out of their offensive rhythm. And James took over, scoring 13 consecutive points in one stretch and 19 of 24 bridging the third and fourth quarters as the Cavaliers kept their distance from the Hornets. Paul, one of James' best friends, was called for his second technical with 1:10 left and thrown out. A few seconds later, Posey shoved Mo Williams to the floor and was tossed. Up by 15 at halftime, Cleveland pushed its lead to 21 in the third after James made a steal and went in for a breakaway dunk to electrify another sellout crowd. Moments later, though, Cavs fans were holding their breath when James banged the back of his right arm on Tyson Chandler's knee as they fell to the floor. James stayed down for several minutes and the entire Cleveland team came out with trainer Max Benton to check on the injured superstar. James received treatment during a timeout and came back in wearing a sleeve on his arm. It didn't seem to bother his stroke as he buried three straight jumpers to open the fourth. With West out, Szczerbiak (14 points) and Pavlovic will get more playing time and the two reserves showed they were ready for the extra minutes in the first half. They combined for 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including seven 3-pointers as the Cavs opened a 51-36 lead at the break. Cleveland's defense held New Orleans to 19 points in the second half, frustrating the Hornets and especially Paul, who was whistled for his first "T" for complaining after he was stripped by Williams in the closing seconds. Szczerbiak made three consecutive 3-pointers and the Cavaliers closed the first quarter with a flurry of five 3s in the final 2:56 to take a 28-17 lead. Gibson closed the period by picking up a loose ball in front of Cleveland's bench and hitting an off-balance 3-pointer while falling to the ground. As Gibson watched his prayer from the floor, hit shot hit the back of the rim and bounce halfway up the shot clock above the backboard before falling through the net. Notes:@ To fight his lingering head cold, James drank orange juice and ate chicken noodle soup -- an old-fashioned home remedy. Told the soup doesn't work, James countered: "You can't tell Grandmas that." ... New Orleans is 3-4 in January after going a franchise record 12-2 in the first month of 2008. ... The Hornets wore throwback uniforms like the ABA's New Orleans Buccaneers.
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