James drops 40 on Pacers in Cavs win 105 - 95

Nov 20, 2009

LeBron James enjoys the challenge of playing Danny Granger. On Friday night, it was less challenge and more of a show. James was spectacular early and solid in the fourth quarter. Most importantly, he was clutch late, drilling a game-sealing 3-pointer with 52.8 seconds left to secure a 105-95 Cleveland Cavaliers (9-4) victory over the Indiana Pacers (5-5) in front of 18,165 at Conseco Fieldhouse. "It's kind of like pick your poison," Granger, the Pacers' All-Star forward who had 19 points, said of James' game-clincher. "You either let him get to the lane or let him pull up for a jump shot. "He was really hitting those from the perimeter." The Cavaliers, who played without center Shaquille O'Neal for a fourth consecutive game, have won three of those four, and on Friday night, they rallied from a five-point fourth-quarter deficit. James, who entered the game averaging 28.3 points per game, finished with 40 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, with the game-clincher his lone 3-point field-goal of the night.

"Sometimes, there's not a lot you can do when you're playing one of the premier players in the league," said Pacers coach Jim O'Brien, who watched most of the game from the locker room after a first-quarter ejection. O'Brien was thrown out of the game with 5:20 left in the first period after drawing two technical fouls for walking out to near midcourt to argue with officials. Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said of James, "He had a big night -- his will and ability to attack . . . when he does that he makes us good. It not only makes us good offensively, but it gives us energy defensively." The game-clinching 3-pointer came from 25 feet, the sort of shot Brown said might have been of questionable judgment for any other player but James. "The shots he takes, there aren't many guys who can take and make those," Brown said, recalling James' memorable Game 5 in the 2007 Eastern Conference semifinals in which he scored the final 25 points of a Cavaliers victory over the Pistons. "Every shot he took in that game was a bad shot for everybody except him. "People ask me every once in a while, 'You think LeBron's taking bad shots?' You have to be careful when you have a player like that. If he wasn't taking and making those shots, we wouldn't win a lot of games. . . . Sometimes the best coaching is to get out his way."

James, asked by a reporter afterward if he wanted the ball in his hands at those sorts of moments, smiled and kiddingly asked the questioner how long he had been doing his job. "You should know better than to ask me if I want the ball down the stretch," James said. But Brown said as pleased as he was with James' late performance, he was just as pleased with how the Cavaliers took control of the game -- with a solid fourth-quarter defensive effort and clutch late shooting. The Cavaliers were outscored by Washington 64-40 in the second half of a 108-91 loss Wednesday, a loss that snapped a five-game winning streak. "Our defense got us back in the game and kept us ahead," Brown said. "It was good to see. We didn't panic." The Cavaliers have won 15 of 17 games against Indiana, including six of eight in Indianapolis. Brown said he also liked the Cavaliers' balance late, with guard Mo Williams scoring 18 points, forward J.J. Hickson finishing with 15 and guard Anthony Parker finishing with 12. Anderson Varejao added 12 off the bench. "I can't do it myself," James said. "I know that. I have great teammates that come to play every night." Indiana, like Cleveland, had won five consecutive games entering Wednesday, but now have lost second-half leads in their last two games. They lost a 19-point lead in a loss to the New York Knicks at home Wednesday. The teams were tied 38-38 at the end of the first quarter despite 16 points from James on 7 of 7 shooting, and the Cavaliers pulled ahead, 66-61, at halftime. Cleveland, which out-rebounded Indiana, 22-15, in the first half, shot 55.8 percent in the first half, but started the second half slow as the Pacers pulled ahead.

"In the third we came out flat," Brown said. "I give the Pacers credit. They did a good job and stepped up their play physically. In the fourth, we turned it around." Indiana took a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter and led 82-77 entering the fourth quarter, but Cleveland rallied quickly to tie it 82-82 a little more than a minute into the fourth period. "Our defense wasn't that bad down the stretch," Granger said. "Offensively, we got some decent looks, but they played defense and pushed us to the shot clock." Said Pacers forward Troy Murphy, "Our offense was stagnant and there was a lot of standing around. We moved the ball well the first three quarters, but not so good in the fourth."

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