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James aims to guide Cavaliers past Bulls

Apr 3, 2008 - 4:19 PM Chicago (29-45) at Cleveland (42-33) 8:00 pm EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) - LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are looking to gain some momentum when they host the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.

With just seven games remaining in the regular season, Cleveland has not posted a winning streak longer then three games since the All-Star break.

Last time out, James scored 29 points before fouling out to lead six others in double figures in Cleveland's 118-114 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday.

"It doesn't happen a lot to LeBron," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "It doesn't happen often to superstars of his caliber. But it happened and our guys stayed composed and found a way to win the game down the stretch."

The 6-8 James is averaging 28.8 points and 6.0 assists through 18 career meetings against Chicago, which fell 95-86 last time here on March 2.

Tyrus Thomas had one of his best games in recent months with 24 points and seven rebounds, but it wasn't enough as the Bulls came up short to the Boston Celtics, 106-92, on Tuesday.

Chicago's chances of reaching the postseason continue to get slimmer by the day as Atlanta (35-40) holds a 5 1/2-game lead for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference with only eight games to go.