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Cavaliers vie for 10th straight win, face Nets

Mar 24, 2009 - 9:42 PM By Nicolino DiBenedetto Stats Writer

New Jersey (30-40) at Cleveland (57-13), 7 p.m. EDT

CLEVELAND (AP) -- LeBron James has been instrumental in making the Cleveland Cavaliers a force in the NBA. Now, he has the team on the brink of setting a franchise record for wins.

James will try to help the league-leading Cavaliers reach that milestone Wednesday night as they attempt to win 10 in a row by sweeping a home-and-home series from the visiting New Jersey Nets.

When Cleveland (57-13) selected James first overall in 2003, he joined a team that hadn't made the playoffs for five consecutive seasons and last won an opening-round series in 1993. It would take James three seasons to get the Cavaliers back to the postseason before leading them to an NBA finals appearance in 2006-07.

Now, the five-time All-Star has Cleveland at the top of the NBA and in position to set a team record for wins after scoring 30 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out eight assists in a 96-88 win at New Jersey (30-40) on Sunday.

The Cavs, who have 12 games to play in the regular season, went 57-25 in 1988-89 and 1991-92.

"It's not the main goal, but any time you get an opportunity to write your name or write your team into the record books, you should be proud," James said.

"I think the franchise, the team, the coaches, everybody, everybody that's associated with the Cavaliers - people that work the concession stands - everybody, we should all be proud about this. Because it's not promised every year where you get a chance to set records, franchise records, or winning divisions, things like that. Great achievement by us."

James, who's a candidate for his first NBA MVP award, is second in the league with 28.6 points per game. He's been outstanding during the nine-game winning streak, producing four triple-doubles while averaging 30.1 points, 9.6 boards and 9.6 assists.

The Cavaliers are also getting contributions from center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who scored 18 points, pulled down six rebounds and blocked four shots Sunday. He passed John "Hot Rod" Williams as the club's all-time leader with 1,202 blocks after becoming the top rebounder earlier this season.

"These things are always nice, but especially when the team is doing well," said Ilgauskas, who was drafted 20th overall in 1996. "If you're on a bad team, you can't enjoy it as much, and this so far has been a special season. A lot of records have fallen."

The Cavs will try to sweep a season series from the Nets, who never led Sunday, for the first time since taking all three meetings in 2000-01.

While Cleveland is an NBA-best 32-1 at home and trying to secure home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, New Jersey is hoping to just qualify.

The Nets, who have 12 games left, are 11th in the crowded East standings, competing with Charlotte, Milwaukee, Indiana and New York in the chase to catch eighth-place Chicago for the final playoff position.

New Jersey is expected to be without Devin Harris for a fifth consecutive game. The All-Star guard, who leads the Nets with 22.6 points per contest, is sidelined indefinitely with a shoulder injury.

With Harris likely out, the Nets will turn to Keyon Dooling again. He is averaging 15.8 points on 61.0 percent shooting (25-for-41) in starting the last four games in place of Harris.

Dooling made seven of nine shots and scored 19 while adding five rebounds and four assists Sunday.