James Scores 37 to Rally Cavs Past Bulls
Cleveland 95, Chicago 86
Chicago Bulls' Ben Gordon, left, and Cleveland Cavaliers' Anderson Varejao, from Brazil, battle for a loose ball in the second quarter in an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 2, 2008, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
(Tony Dejak - AP)
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Sunday, March 2, 2008; 5:59 PM
CLEVELAND -- LeBron James scored 37 points and took over down the stretch to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 95-86 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday.
With the game tied at 83, James scored six straight points, including a thunderous dunk that brought the sellout crowd at Quicken Loans Arena to its feet.
The Cavaliers trailed 76-68 early in the fourth quarter, but rallied to tie the game. James drove past two defenders and scored on a left-handed layup to give Cleveland the lead for good with 3:04 to go.
On the Cavaliers' next possession, James drove down the right side of the lane, flew to the basket and scored on a dunk with his right hand. James created a turnover on Chicago's next possession, and with the Cavaliers setting up on the offensive end and the crowd chanting "MVP," he buried a 22-footer to give Cleveland a six-point lead.
Wally Szczerbiak, who scored 17 points, hit a 3-pointer from the corner on Cleveland's next possession to make it 92-83.
Cleveland ended the game on a 12-3 run.
Cleveland, Chicago and Seattle were involved in an 11-player deal on Feb. 21. Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown were sent to the from the Cavaliers to the Bulls, who dealt center Ben Wallace and forward Joe Smith to Cleveland.
Hughes led the Bulls with 23 points, making 8 of 20 shots from the field. Gooden scored 11 points with 10 rebounds.
Smith scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland built a 65-58 lead late in the third quarter, but the Bulls ended the period on a run, taking the lead on a Tyrus Thomas dunk off an alley-oop pass from Hughes. Ben Gordon followed with a jumper to end the quarter.
Hughes scored on a layup to start the fourth quarter and hit a jumper to extend the run to 18-3, giving the Bulls a 76-68 lead. The Cavaliers' only points in that stretch came on a 3-pointer by Damon Jones.
The Cavs rallied on a 3-pointer by Szczerbiak and six straight points by Smith, cutting the lead to 79-77.
Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed the game because of a strained back. It's uncertain when the 7-foot-3 center will return.
Szczerbiak, who missed Friday night's game, returned Sunday. His wife, Shannon, gave birth to the couple's third child Saturday.
