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James, Cavaliers aim to take command vs. Nets in Game Three

May 12, 2007 - 12:54 PM Cleveland at New Jersey 5:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference Semifinal Game Three

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers can take command of their Eastern Conference semifinal series with a win over the New Jersey Nets on Saturday.

Cleveland defeated New Jersey, 102-92, on Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead in the series and remain undefeated in the 2007 playoffs.

James was the catalyst, scoring 36 points and handing out a playoff career-high 12 assists. The three-time All-Star received help from Sasha Pavlovic, who also had a playoff high 17 points to go along with tough defense on Nets leading scorer Vince Carter.

The Cavaliers also continue to dominate the boards. After outrebounding the Nets, 51-37 in Game One, Cleveland wiped out New Jersey on the glass again in Game Two, 49-32.

Drew Gooden had 14 rebounds and Zydrunas Ilgauskas and reserve Anderson Varejao added nine apiece for the Cavaliers, who also grabbed 19 offensive rebounds to just three for the Nets.

James, who had his best scoring effort in six playoff games, scored 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting to help his team outscore New Jersey by nine in the final quarter.

James has played much better than Carter, who continues to be dogged by Pavlovic and has shot a miserable 17-of-49 for the series. The eight-time All-Star also has eight turnovers.

Carter and his backcourt mate Jason Kidd have combined for 18 miscues and the two must find a way to motivate their teammates to come up with more shots. The Nets have hoisted 143 field goal attempts in the two games compared to 172 for Cleveland.

After averaging 96.2 points in six games vs. Toronto in its first-round playoff series, New Jersey has an average total of just 84.5 points vs. Cleveland.

Eight times in their playoff history, the Nets have fallen behind two games to none and on three occasions they won Game Three. However, only in the 2004 conference semifinals vs. Detroit did New Jersey win more than one game. The Nets lost that series in seven games.

Game Four is here Monday.