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Red-hot Cavs aim for eight straight vs. Bobcats

Dec 6, 2008 - 11:19 AM Cleveland (16-3) at Charlotte (7-12) 7:00 p.m. EST

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers are playing so well they barely need LeBron James anymore. Well, his scoring at least.

The Cavaliers will be aiming for their eight straight win when they face the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday.

James finished with a season-low 11 points on Friday but chipped in 11 assists and eight rebounds while holding Danny Granger to four points as Cleveland cruised to a 97-73 drubbing of the Indiana Pacers.

James ranks second in the NBA in scoring at 27.4 points per game, but the strength of the Cavaliers has been their exceptional play on both ends of the floor. They are second in the Eastern Conference in both most points scored and fewest points allowed.

Cleveland has also become more than just a one-man show, as evidenced by Anderson Varejao, Mo Williams and Zydrunas Ilgauskas leading the team with 17 points apiece on Friday. Williams and Ilgauskas are each averaging over 15 points per game.

The Bobcats will be playing the second end of a back-to-back after traveling to Milwaukee and suffering a 101-96 setback. Jason Richardson scored 20 points in the loss and Raymond Felton and Emeka Okafor added 19 apiece.

The loss snapped a two-game winning streak and exposed the team's greatest weakness as it managed only 40 points in the second half. Charlotte is the lowest-scoring team in the NBA at 90.4 points per game.

The Cavaliers won the first meeting of the season between the teams, 96-79, on October 30. Daniel Gibson led Cleveland with 25 points.