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LeBron Leads Cavs Past NetsPOSTED: 10:49 pm CST November 18,
2008 East Rutherford, NJ -- (Sports Network) - LeBron James scored 31 points and grabbed eight rebounds, as the Cleveland Cavaliers put on a three-point show to down the New Jersey Nets, 106-82.James shot only 1-of-4 from beyond the arc, but Delonte West and Mo Williams shot a combined 7-of-8 from long distance for the Cavs, who have won eight straight games. Cleveland made 10-of-17 three-pointers, and West had 16 points, while Williams posted 16 points and six assists in the win. "We have the killer mentality early in the season," James said. "You don't want to let a team hang around, especially at home. We just continued to defend and (Williams) and (West) did a great job shooting the lights out, and we just took that momentum." Devin Harris scored a team-high 23 points for the Nets, who had won their previous two games. Brook Lopez posted a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Vince Carter had 12 points and six assists despite shooting 3- of-12 from the field. "We've had struggles in the past. We've had decent first halves, but in the third we've been real low energy-wise," Harris said. "It's something we have to deal with. Sometimes we can correct it. It was just one of those nights where we didn't bring it like we needed." Down by three going into halftime, the Cavaliers started the third quarter on a 12-0 burst thanks to four long distance shots -- two from Williams and two from West. Cleveland proved to be deadly from three in the quarter, as West added two more from behind the arc. The Cavs outscored the Nets, 28-13, in the third to take a commanding 77-65 edge into the fourth. Cleveland jumped out to a 19-point lead early in the fourth and never looked back, cruising to the lopsided victory. Tied at 18, the Nets went on a 7-0 run late in the first that was capped off by Keyon Dooling's acrobatic layup. James was on his game early for Cleveland with 15 points, but the Nets held a slim 28-26 lead going into the second. Already leading 41-37 in the second, the Nets went on a 7-2 spurt that put the team up by nine. Cleveland was able to climb back to within one in the waning seconds of the half, but Harris drew a foul with 3.9 seconds left and put New Jersey up 52-49 headed into the break with a couple of free throws. Game Notes James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 11,000 points, replacing Kobe Bryant. James came into the game with 10,987 points and reached the mark at 23 years, 323 days old. Bryant was 25 years, 99 days old when he accomplished the feat...New Jersey took three of four games from the Cavaliers last season...Cleveland's win marks the first time in four meetings with the Nets that the road team posted a victory...Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 13 points and nine rebounds...New Jersey's Yi Jianlian had nine points. Copyright 2008 Courtesy of The Sports Network. Cleveland Cavaliers | Sports E-News |
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