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LeBron's 38 points lead way in OT win
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Wednesday, Nov 28, 2007
CLEVELAND: Without a great deal of publicity, the Cavaliers' top three players have been right with the heralded ''Big Three'' of the Boston Celtics this season.
Tuesday, facing the Celtics' stars head-to-head for the first time, the Cavs' entry was better.
The Cavs' power trio of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden and, of course, LeBron James are all having monster seasons. Another big night led to a monster early season win, 109-104 in overtime.
Ilgauskas, Gooden and James combined for 77 points, 31 rebounds and 18 assists. The Boston triumvirate of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett could not match them with 64 points, 18 rebounds and 15 assists.
There were plenty of other factors and key plays in the stretch run, but ultimately that was the difference in the Cavs' (9-6) fourth consecutive victory and just the second loss of the season for the Celtics.
''We don't want any tags, big three or whatever,'' said James, who was emotional during the game and had fiery exchanges of words with both Pierce and Garnett late in the game.
''Drew and Z have done a great job controlling the interior this year. Z is playing career basketball right now, and Drew is getting better, and I'm going to do my part, of course.''
James had another memorable evening, which he seems to be doing with regularity, putting up 38 points and 13 assists.
The NBA's leading scorer has seven consecutive games of 30 points or more.
After missing a 20-foot jumper at the regulation buzzer that would've won the game, James responded with 11 points in overtime, including a bomb 3-pointer with 1:50 left that turned the tide for good.
It was not a James signature performance. The Celtics (11-2), who have made a name for themselves with their stingy defense, made it difficult for him at times in the halfcourt and didn't let him get to the basket much.
Which is where James' improved jumper, and his seemingly improved teammates, came into play.
Gooden had a season-high 24 points with 13 rebounds as he basically outplayed counterpart Garnett, who had 19 points and just five rebounds.
Gooden burned the Celtics with his jumper — which has been right on of late — especially in the third quarter. With the Cavs trailing by five points at halftime, Gooden led a turnaround by hitting his first nine shots of the second half, most of them on long jumpers.
Ilgauskas had a tough assignment: He was asked to bring double teams when Garnett was working on the block, and to be the last line of defense when the Celtics ran side pick-and-rolls for Pierce and Allen.
Ilgauskas got beat a few times, by lesser opponents such as Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis, but, overall, his efforts on defense paid off.
The Celtics were held to just 43 percent shooting, and Ilgauskas was a big part of it as he blocked four shots and changed many others. Pierce had 16 points but was just 5-of-15 shooting.
Ilgauskas also delivered what is becoming his standard double-double, his 10th in 15 games this season, with 15 rebounds and 14 assists.
Other Cavs deserved credit in the win, including Sasha Pavlovic, who had a second consecutive good game with 16 points. He battled Allen, who put up 29 points for the Celtics but needed 25 shots to get there. Pavlovic also drilled a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left in regulation that tied the game.
''I think we've got a lot of upside, and we're doing some good things,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''There's a lot we need to work on, but we are making strides, and we showed that tonight.''
Brian Windhorst can be reached at bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/.
CLEVELAND: Without a great deal of publicity, the Cavaliers' top three players have been right with the heralded ''Big Three'' of the Boston Celtics this season.
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