Final
James' second straight triple-double leads Cavaliers to win
Nov 25, 2007 - 11:59 PM INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- LeBron James is making a mockery of opposing defenses.James recorded his second straight triple-double by finding Damon Jones for a key 3-pointer to help the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 111-106 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
The 22-year-old James scored 30 points to go along with 10 assists and 11 rebounds for his fourth triple-double of the season and 14th of his career.
"We're playing some good basketball, and I'm the catalyst of that," James said. "The best thing about it (is) we got three straight wins, and that's good. We got a little streak going."
Marquis Daniels scored 25 points off the bench and Jamaal Tinsley nearly recorded a triple-double of his own with 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for Indiana, which had its two-game winning streak snapped.
But in a game that featured nine ties and 18 lead changes, James proved to be the difference.
"He's an amazing talent, an amazing player," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "The guy is just unbelievable."
The league's leading scorer, James helped Cleveland take a 103-101 lead when he found Sasha Pavlovic for a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:31 left in the game. Pavlovic finished with a season-high 22 points.
"It was great to see Sasha come out of his shell today for the first time this season," James said. "He didn't second-guess anything. He got it going early."
Indiana had a chance to take the lead with less than a minute to play, but David Harrison was called for offensive goaltending. Harrison tried to follow a missed layup by Tinsley, but was hanging on the rim when Jeff Foster's put-back fell through with 51 seconds left.
On the following possession, James provided the dagger. James was trapped in the corner and threw a cross-court pass to Jones, who hit a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left.
Drew Gooden, who scored 23 points, made a pair of free throws and James added another to stretch the lead to 109-104 with 23 seconds left.
After a pair of free throws from Tinsley, Indiana had a chance to tie the game but Shawne Williams' 3-pointer with five seconds left was off the mark.
"The screens were designed for three of the shooters, and I think Shawne was the first one that was open so we went there with it," Pacers forward Danny Granger said.
The Cavaliers led, 54-46, at the half, but the Pacers went on a 16-2 run to close out the third quarter and take a 75-73 lead heading into the final period.
Daniels scored seven points off the bench during the run, most of which occurred while James was on the bench for the final 3:56 of the period.
"I thought our guys really scrapped coming back and did a lot of positive things," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "I told our guys I was very proud of the way we kept our focus."
- NBA
CLEVELAND 111
INDIANA 106 FINAL
Nov 25 5:16 PM - NBA
CLEVELAND 73
INDIANA 75 END, 3RD QTR
Nov 25 4:25 PM - NBA
CLEVELAND 54
INDIANA 46 HALFTIME
Nov 25 3:45 PM - NBA
CLEVELAND 21
INDIANA 25 END, 1ST QTR
Nov 25 3:11 PM
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