 It had to end like that."I didn't even ask," James said. "I just
told Sasha (Pavlovic) to go somewhere else."
James scored 33 points and shut out Bryant when the NBA's top two
scorers went one-on-one in the final 2:23 and the Cleveland
Cavaliers bounced back from a dismal loss with a 94-90 victory over
the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
James added 10 rebounds and five assists. But it was his pressure
on Bryant in the final minutes that helped the Cavs recover from a
lousy defensive effort in a 108-90 loss at New York on Wednesday
night.
James relished the chance to match up with a player he believes
is the league's best with the ball.
"If you want to win, you have to be able to defend the best
player," James said. "I think we both took on the challenge."
Bryant finished with 21 points, but missed two shots with James
chasing him, and the Lakers went 0-for-8 from the floor in the final
four minutes.
Daniel Gibson added 15 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas 12 for the
Cavs, who held the Lakers to 12 points -- on 5-of-22 shooting -- in
the fourth quarter and won for just the third time in 12 games.
Lamar Odom added 19 points, and Andrew Bynum had 17 points for
the Lakers, but he missed two free throws with 11.9 seconds left
that would have tied it at 92.
However, on the second miss, Bryant got away from James and
grabbed a rebound in traffic before calling timeout with 10.3
seconds left. Bryant winked into a TV camera nearby, knowing he had
at least temporarily bailed out his team.
"I told LeBron I was going to get it," Bryant said, laughing.
But after taking the inbounds pass, Bryant missed a long
3-pointer with five seconds left, and Lakers guard Derek Fisher was
called for a loose-ball foul despite grabbing a rebound over Gibson.
Fisher felt he had got the ball cleanly.
"There was contact," Fisher said. "But I didn't push him."
Bryant felt he had a good look at the missed 3.
"He (James) had his hands down on me. He knows better than that,"
Bryant said. "I was going to let it fly. It felt good. As soon as it
left my hands, I thought it was going down. I was mad it didn't go
in."
James was afraid Bryant had hit a game-winner.
"It looked good when I turned around," he said.
Gibson made both free throws with 3.3 seconds left to seal it for
the Cavs, who were coming off an inexcusable road loss to the
dysfunctional Knicks. Afterward, Cavs coach Mike Brown said he was
embarrassed.
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Before facing Bryant and Co., Cleveland's coached wrote "Defend
To Win!!!" on an dry-erase board in the locker room.
The message seemed to get through as the Cavaliers finally showed
the type of defensive intensity that led them to their first Eastern
Conference title last season.
Cleveland trailed 78-73 entering the fourth, but with James on
the bench and Lakers coach Phil Jackson resting Bryant and three
other starters, the Cavs opened the final period with a 13-4 run,
fueled by Devin Brown's six points, to take an 86-82 lead with 7:34
remaining.
Lakers forward Luke Walton put in his own miss with four minutes
left to put Los Angeles ahead 90-88, but James came back with a
jumper to tie it.
And moments later, he switched on Bryant, his teammate on the
U.S. national team. The two went at it practice nearly every day,
matchups Bryant said he wished the public could have seen.
The two bonded and James gained a greater respect for Bryant's
game.
"Kobe Bryant is definitely the most explosive player we have in
this league," James said. "There's no one like him."
James might be close.
He had 19 points in the first half to 13 for Bryant, who has been
more of a playmaker this season for the Lakers.
Odom led Los Angeles with 14 points as the Lakers took a 53-51
halftime lead.
Amid the embarrassment at Madison Square Garden, James and Brown
bumped shoulders on the floor as time was called in the fourth
quarter. A video clip of the moment was shown repeatedly on ESPN,
and because both Brown and James were upset at the time, it led to
speculation there may have been a problem between the two.
"It was one guy looking one way and he was looking the other,"
Brown said. "I was kind of shocked when somebody told me (it was an
issue). There's nothing to it. I think we have a great
relationship."
James, too, dismissed the incident.
"No issue," he said.
Notes: Jackson (934) remains one victory behind Dick Motta
(935) for eighth on the career list. Red Auerbach is seventh with
938. ... The Kobe vs. LeBron matchup brought out 10 Browns players,
including stars Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards, who both had
courtside seats. ... In Wednesday's loss at New York, James had 32
points, eight rebounds, six assists and six steals, becoming the
first player to hit those totals in a regulation game since Mitch
Richmond in 1997. ... Cavs F Anderson Varejao had season-highs with
11 points and 15 rebounds.
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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