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March 21, 2008
CLEVELAND -- LeBron James walked to the
center of the floor as fans who have watched
him grow from local teenage prodigy to NBA
superstar drowned him in cheers.
As they stood and screamed, James returned
their love by blowing kisses.
The kid from nearby Akron has done it all so
quickly, in the blink of an eye.
From the franchise's top pick to its top
scorer -- in less than five years.
"The crazy thing about it is that he's 23,"
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "Absolutely
amazing."
James passed Brad Daugherty as Cleveland's
career scoring leader in the first quarter
and finished with 29 points, leading the
Cavaliers to a 90-83 win over the Toronto
Raptors on Friday night in a possible
first-round playoff preview.
In just his fifth NBA season, James has
already moved to the top of Cleveland's
scoring chart, a remarkable achievement for a
remarkable player whose potential seems
limitless. He scored 23 points in the second
half, including 11 in the final 7:19 as the
Cavaliers won their ninth straight at home.
When the final horn sounded, James was handed
the game ball by referee Dick Bavetta before
his mother, Gloria, rushed on the floor to
plant a kiss on her only child.
"I think I made my mom proud," he said.
And just about everyone else in Northeast
Ohio.
In hardly no time at all, he has resurrected
the Cavaliers, first leading them back to the
playoffs and then all they way to the NBA
Finals for the first time. He has given
Cleveland sports fans a reasonable hope that
one of the city's star-crossed pro teams may
end a four-decades-old world title drought.
It took Daugherty 548 games to amass 10,389
points. James, the NBA's leading scorer, has
10,414 points in just 380 games.
"It took me 13 years to get 10,000 points,"
Cavs forward Joe Smith said. "It goes to show
what kind of talent he is. I know he has at
least 30,000 more in him."
Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 16 points, Devin Brown
scored 14 and Damon Jones knocked down two
crucial 3-pointers early in the fourth for
Cleveland, which opened a 4½-game lead over
the Raptors for the No. 4 spot in the Eastern
Conference.
Chris Bosh scored 24 points in his second
game back after missing 10 with a sore knee
for Toronto, which slipped to No. 6 in the
East. Rasho Nesterovic added 16 for the
Raptors, who held the Miami Heat to 54 points
in a win on Wednesday night.
They would have no such luck containing
James, who had his usual assortment of
thundering dunks, drives and clutch jumpers.
"He had a couple of dunks where we didn't
rotate over and he got to the rim," Bosh
said. "We should have been a little smarter
than that."
James came in needing just five points to
overtake Daugherty, and he pushed past the
former All-Star center in fitting fashion.
Powering through traffic in the lane, James
went strong to the basket and muscled in one
of his patented, scooping layups.
The sellout crowd at Quicken Loans Arena
immediately rose to give James a thundering
ovation and when Brown called a timeout, the
All-Star forward first walked to the bench to
receive high-fives and hugs from his
teammates.
Then, he walked to the center of the court to
acknowledge Cleveland's fans, who serenaded
him with "MVP" chants throughout the evening.
"These fans have watched me go from zero
points to 10,000," he said. "They've seen me
go from a young man to a man now. It's one of
the best experiences I've had. To be the
all-time leader is something that I never
dreamed of. But now that it's here, it's an
unbelievable feeling."
The Raptors nearly spoiled James' historic
night, pulling even at 77 on T.J. Ford's
jumper with 5:24 left. But James' dunk made
it 81-77, and after Bosh scored, Ilgauskas
made two free throws to give Cleveland an
83-79 cushion.
James, who always has a flair for the
dramatic, then hit a 3-pointer to put the
Cavs up 86-79 and end Toronto's upset bid.
Trailing by nine in the second quarter, the
Raptors scratched within three by halftime
and took the lead midway through the third on
consecutive 3-pointers by Anthony Parker.
At that point, James was the only one doing
anything for Cleveland. He scored 10 straight
points and 12 of the Cavs' first 14 in the
period, but it wasn't enough as the Raptors
took a 67-63 lead into the fourth.
Cleveland's Ben Wallace went out with back
spasms in the third and didn't return. He
missed a game last week with the same
problem.
Tags : LeBron James dunk dunks on Jamario Moon vs Toronto Raptors 2007 2008 season highlights |
