Cavs win as James reaches milestone

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry were today named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, November 16 through Sunday, November 22.

The veteran forward finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds and five assists as the Cavs rallied from a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter and outscored the Hornets 23-14 in the final period.

James extended his streak of wins against teams from Charlotte to 21 straight dating to the 2009-2010 season.

He shrugged off the streak afterward.

“I didn’t play well”, James said afterward. “I’ve always had it. My upbringing had me like that, so it’s either you got it or don’t”. The Cavs had just one turnover in the second half.

James’ Cavs are 3-4 on the road following Wednesday’s loss in Toronto, and he vented afterward about his team’s lack of a “bunker” mentality away from Quicken Loans Arena.

“We’re minus-12 on the glass”, said Hornets coach Steve Clifford of the Cavaliers’ 50-38 advantage. As a defender you don’t really worry about those because he has to make them.

“We have to hold each other more accountable and we have to play better, and we will”, James said.

Kemba Walker had 18 points and Nicolas Batum added 17 points and eight rebounds to lead Charlotte, which fell to 4-1 on its seven-game homestand.

Smith provided the offense when the Cavs needed it most down the stretch. In the second period, he was 7-for-8 from the floor and ideal on four 3-pointers. “The Hornets took possession and Jeremy Lamb”™s jumper pulled them within 92-90 with a minute left.

James fittingly distributed praise to those who helped him reach the milestone.

“We had to pick it up a few notches in order to slow them down”, Blatt said. “We felt and we knew that we needed a little bit more at that end of the court”. “I didn’t think we displayed the kind of toughness that made us a team past year”. That was the key to the win. Struggling veteran Joe Johnson missed all five of his long-range tries in the loss to the Thunder, part of his team’s 3-of-13 effort. We kept missing shots, but we just stayed together and stayed with it and started hitting some shots. “That’s a credit to our players”.

The Charlotte Hornets limited the Washington Wizards to just six fourth-quarter points in their 101-87 win, the Utah Jazz upstaged the Los Angeles Clippers 102-91, the Detroit Pistons saw off the Miami Heat 104-81, the Atlanta Hawks lost 99-95 to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the San Antonio Spurs edged the Dallas Mavericks 88-83. In the last quarter, Hornets shot an atrocious 29 percent from the field (7 of 24), resulting to Cleveland going home with a win.