Cleveland scores 46 in 1st quarter, routs Clippers

[February 01, 2010]  CLEVELAND (AP) -- LeBron James scored half of Cleveland's 46 points in the first quarter and the streaking Cavaliers tied an NBA record with 11 3-pointers in the opening period of their 114-89 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night.

The 46 points tied a franchise mark for most in a quarter, and Cleveland's 16 3-pointers fell one shy of the team record for a game. Cleveland has won eight straight.

James, who finished with 32 points and 11 assists, fueled the early outburst by making his first seven shots -- including four 3s. He hit long ones from 30 and 28 feet in the quarter.

Cleveland made 3-pointers on seven consecutive possessions during the spurt. James had four of them, Daniel Gibson added two and Anthony Parker started the streak with one 4 minutes into the game.

The long-range shooting extended a 9-7 lead to 30-11 in a little more than three minutes. The Cavaliers shot 16 of 21 in the quarter (11 of 13 on 3-pointers) to take a 46-20 lead into the second.

Baron Davis had 30 points for the Clippers, who have dropped four straight and are 1-5 on this eight-game road trip. Los Angeles was again without center Chris Kaman, who has missed consecutive games with a sprained left ankle. Eric Gordon had 12 points and DeAndre Jordan added 11 for Los Angeles.

Shaquille O'Neal had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland, which kicked off a seven-game homestand with an easy win. Gibson had 14 points and Jawad Williams added 12 off the bench.

Everything was falling for Cleveland early. Anderson Varejao tried tossing an alley-oop to Jamario Moon in the second quarter, but ended up making the basket when his lob sailed high. Varejao had 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

The lead swelled to 31 late in the second before Los Angeles cut it to 92-81 with 6:52 left. The Cavs responded with two dunks from O'Neal and one by James to thwart any chance of a Clippers comeback.

NOTES: The 25-point win tied Cleveland's largest margin of victory this year. ... Cleveland leads the NBA with 38 victories. ... It was the second time this week James had at least 20 points in a quarter. He scored 20 in the second quarter Jan. 25 against Miami. ... Kaman, who leads the Clippers with 20.2 points per game and is second with 9.1 rebounds, participated in pregame warmups, but was inactive for the game. The Clippers are 0-5 without Kaman, who also missed Los Angeles' 102-101 loss to Cleveland earlier in January.

[Associated Press]

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