James scores 45 to lead Cavaliers to victory

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Mary Schmitt Boyer

Plain Dealer Reporter

Minneapolis- Cavaliers coach Mike Brown knew it was only a matter of time.

The short-handed Cavaliers were playing the second night of a back-to-back, coming off a tough loss at home to the Milwaukee Bucks. The young Minnesota Timberwolves had trimmed a 13-point third quarter deficit to four with three minutes left. The crowd was up and roaring, and it looked as if the game was up for grabs.

So, LeBron James reached out and grabbed it.

James scored 17 of his 45 points in the fourth quarter and had eight points and a steal in a decisive 35-second span to lift the Cavs to a 97-86 victory on Wednesday night in Target Center.

"Anytime we're able to have a close ballgame at the end, a two- or three-point ballgame, whether we're up or down, I know he's ready to turn it on," Brown said of James. "I don't worry or sense or try to read him at all. He knows when he needs to step up and do his thing and he did it tonight."

After the talented Al Jefferson made two free throws to get the Wolves within 83-79, James made a driving layup with 3:06 left. Then, James hit back-to-back 3-pointers, stole the ball from rookie Corey Brewer and raced down court looking as if he'd rip the rim off the backboard before changing things up and gently dropping the ball through to restore the Cavs' lead to 93-79 with 1:43 left.

"That pretty much put the nail in the coffin," James admitted.

It was the 20th time in his career James scored 40 or more points. The Cavs are 16-4 in those games. Drew Gooden added 17 points and nine rebounds. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Dwayne Jones each had 10 rebounds for the Cavs (6-6).

Jefferson finished with 30 points and eight rebounds for the Wolves (1-8).

James had 15 points in the first quarter. But, as has been the case too often in this young season, the Cavs had nothing else on offense and even less on defense.