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Ilgauskas, James lead Cavs past Clippers

Nov 12, 2007 - 7:07 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The 1-2 punch of Zydrunas Ilgauskas and LeBron James were too much for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Ilgauskas scored 25 points and James chipped in 22, eight assists and six steals as the Cleveland Cavaliers posted a 103-95 triumph over the Clippers on Sunday night.

Ilgauskas is off to one of his best starts in recent seasons, posting double digits in scoring in all but one contest this campaign. This marked the first outing he failed to grab double-figure boards.

"Ilgauskas made some big shots from the outside," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "They set him up with LeBron's penetration and (Chris) Kaman had to come help out off of it."

Drew Gooden had 18 points and a season-high 17 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who improved to 3-2 on their six-game tour of the Western Conference which concludes at Denver on Monday.

"(Gooden) got deep positions, got some boards and made some shots," Dunleavy said. "He's a good player. You let any player in this league get going, they're going to have a good night."

Cleveland trailed, 81-80, in the fourth quarter before taking the lead for good behind an aggressive 12-2 surge to forge a nine-point advantage with 7:43 remaining.

"The way we are getting the ball upcourt, sharing the ball, and getting into our rhythm, this is the best offensive performance we have had this early in the season," James said.

The trio of Sam Cassell, Corey Maggette and Kaman combined for 74 points for Los Angeles, which has dropped two straight games since starting the season 4-0.

"We started very slow and had to come back," Maggette said. "We actually took the lead, but we had a lot of costly turnovers at the end. We just need to stay together and pick it up."

"They have such an experienced group that they were not going to cave in," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "Sam Cassell, he amazes me, I don't know how he is still playing. He is going to keep that team poised and in the game no matter what the score is."

Cavs swingman Larry Hughes made his return after missing the last three games with a bruised knee, pouring in 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 27 minutes.