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LeBron unstoppable as Cavs pound Bulls

Nov 6, 2008 - 5:27 AM CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- LeBron James put together his best all-around game of the season and played the role of closer as the Cleveland Cavaliers posted a 107-93 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.

Despite a sore left ankle, "The King" continually attacked the rim in accumulating a season-high 41 points to go along with nine rebounds, six assists and four steals. James made 14 straight free throws to finish 15-of-16 from the line.

"I just wanted to be aggressive all night long and, against a young team like this, you want to continue to attack them," James said.

While James rested to start the fourth quarter, Ben Gordon single-handedly got the Bulls back in the game, with eight of Chicago's first 12 points in the quarter, including a three-point play to make it 90-83 with 6:54 left.

Enter James. The two-time All-Star MVP buried seven unanswered points and it was game, set, match. His tip-in with 3:05 to play gave the Cavaliers a 97-83 advantage.

"As strong, quick and explosive as he is and with the way he's attacking the rim right now, he can definitely be a danger," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "With his aggression and the way he's knocking them down (free throws), it's a win-win for us."

The Bulls struggled mightily to score inside. The Cavaliers contested nearly every shot within 15 feet in the half court and relegated Chicago to long jump shots.

In addition to James' aggression, the Cavaliers pounded the Bulls in the paint, outscoring Chicago, 44-24, in the lane and outrebounding the visitors, 46-35.

The Cavaliers were coming off a superior defensive effort in a 100-81 win at Dallas.

Cleveland's faithful received a scare when James rolled his left ankle, coming down on Derrick Rose's foot with one minute left in the first quarter.

But a sore ankle would not slow him on this night. Grinning from ear to ear most of the game, and seeming to raise his level of play yet again for national television, James scored 18 points in the first two quarters as the Cavaliers led 57-45 at halftime.

"His ankle is good. It's 41 good," Brown said.

Rose and Gordon played well for Chicago in the first half, posting 13 points and five assists and 10 and four, respectively. Rose finished with 20 points and seven assists, while Gordon collected 31 and five.

"We need to improve our defense," Rose said. "Our help defense on LeBron is going to have to be better for Saturday's game."

Luol Deng tried to bring Chicago back early in the third quarter, scoring nine quick points and slicing Cleveland's lead to 65-58.

But the Cavaliers used a 10-0 run to take charge and lead, 83-71, after three.

Delonte West sank three 3-pointers among his 16 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas contributed 15 and 10 rebounds.

"I don't have to play as much on the perimeter with Delonte, Mo (Williams) and (Daniel) Gibson handling the ball," James said. "I can focus my work on the interior. It's something I worked on this summer because I knew the lineup that we had."

Deng wound up with 18 points but had just two in the fourth quarter for the Bulls, who were unable to establish any inside game and shot 39 percent (31-of-79) from the floor.