Triple-Double By LBJ Puts Out Blazers Fire Cavaliers Win 88-80

Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star forward LeBron James had his seventh triple-double of the season, and the seventeenth of his career in the Association, as the Cavaliers shut down the Portland Trail Blazers Monday night 88-80. Cleveland staged a furious comeback, after being down double digits in the second quarter, and did not finally take their first lead of the game until well into the third quarter.

To say Cleveland came out flat in the first quarter would be putting it mildly. The Cavaliers looked like they left their game in the locker room, as Portland surged to a 25-14 lead at the end of the quarter. Cleveland started out the second quarter on fire as they went on a 15-7 spurt, to trail Portland by just 2 points at 32-29 as Anderson Varejao? hit 2 at the line with 5:39 left in the half. The Blazers pulled ahead 41-31 as Steve Blake hit a trey with 2:47 left in the quarter. Cleveland closed out the quarter on an 8-2 run, hence they were down 43-39 at the half.? Portland was ahead 61-55 as Blake hit?one at the stripe with 2:49 left in the third, but that’s when Cleveland came alive. Cleveland took their first lead of the game at 62-61 when Varejao hit one at the line with just 9 seconds left in the period. Blake tied the game at 62-62 when he went 1-2 at the line, and that was the score at the end of the third quarter.?The lead went back and forth for almost the first four minutes of the quarter, and then Wally Szczerbiak put Cleveland ahead to stay at 69-67 when he hit 2 at the line with 8:03 left in the quarter. Although Portland would stay close for the next couple of minutes, they would never really be a threat the rest of the game.

LBJ led Cleveland with 24 points, 11 assists, 10 boards, 2 blocks, 1 steal, in 44 minutes of play. Joe Smith came up big off the pine, as he scored 18 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, Varejao scored 16 points, 9 rebounds. Delonte West scored 10 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, in the Cavaliers win.

LaMarcus Aldridge recorded a double-double as he led all scorers with 25 points, grabbed 10 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, in the Portland loss. The only other Trail Blazer to score in double figures was Brandon Roy who scored 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists. Cleveland with the win improves to 37-27, Portland is now 33-31.