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James, Marshall lead Cavaliers to fourth straight home win

Dec 7, 2006 - 2:53 AM CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- LeBron James was glad he did not have to carry the load against the Toronto Raptors.

James had 26 points and 10 assists and Donyell Marshall added 19 points, including a huge 3-pointer in the final minute, as the Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 95-91 triumph over the Raptors.

In his first start, rookie guard Daniel Gibson registered season highs of 18 points and five rebounds for Cleveland, which won its fourth straight game at Quicken Loans Arena.

Trailing, 84-77, Cleveland responded with an impressive 13-0 surge. James had a hand in all 13 points to help build a 90-84 advantage with 2:09 remaining.

"LeBron was terrific. He just took over the game at the end," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "He was saying the right things to his teammates during the huddle. He really took over a leadership role."

"That's why he's being mentioned for MVP," Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said. "It's either him driving to the basket or passing off to someone else. That's what great players do."

Fred Jones' 3-pointer cut the deficit to 90-89 with 39 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, James found a wide-open Marshall, the former Raptor who drained a shot from the top of the arc to seal the win.

"I was taking what was there," James said. "There are not too many defenses that can force me to do anything. They did what they wanted me to do and I just took advantage of it."

"I knew he (Marshall) was ready to go," Jones said. "That was the best contest (of the shot) I could have made. He made a great shot."

Eric Snow scored 12 points and Damon Jones added 10 off the bench for Cleveland, which shot 45 percent (38-of-83) from the field and got a boost at both ends of the floor from Gibson, a second-round pick from Texas.

"Daniel did a solid job on T.J. Ford," Brown said. "You don't expect a rookie, especially at his age (20), to shut down a guy like Ford."

"He played well. I told you all earlier in the season that he is going to be a very good point guard in this league," James said. "He's more of a scoring guard, but he is going to be very good for our team."

Chris Bosh had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Anthony Parker also scored 18 points for the Raptors, who shot 45 percent (39-of-85). Top overall pick Andrea Bargnani scored 14 points, his sixth straight double-digit game.

"(Bargnani's) been playing well," Mitchell said. "He's given good effort. Everyone has been giving good effort lately."