January 3rd, 2009 
Matt Loede 
Posted in 
The Cavaliers spent the New Year doing what they seem to do best – beating mediocre teams at home. Friday night they erased some of the issues they had been having as of late getting off to slow starts, and pounded the Bulls with a 32-17 first quarter en route to an easy 117-92 victory.
LeBron James put down a triple-double, this with only having to take eight shots the entire night. He scored 16 points, and also had 10 rebounds and 11 assists. It was James’ first triple-double this season and the 18th of his career. Anderson Varejao, playing in the starting role for injured center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, had a game high 26 points, also a career-high.
The Cavs move to 17-0 at home, and 27-5 overall. The Bulls, playing without injured regulars Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng and Drew Gooden, fall to 14-19 on the season. The Cavs are now 3-0 vs the Bulls this season. Ben Wallace beat up his former team, scoring a season-high 13, and rookie J.J. Hickson and reserve Sasha Pavlovic had 13 apiece. Delonte West added 14, and Mo Williams had 11.
Cleveland put seven players in double figures and made it look easy, building a 25-point lead and never allowing the Bulls to really put the game in doubt from the end of the first quarter on. It was a good first test for the team as they know they will be without Ilgauskas for possibly up to a month with a fractured bone in his left ankle.
“It’s going to be tough,” LeBron said. “Guys have to pick it up. We’ve got a veteran ball club and we’ve got enough guys who can come off the bench and really play. We’re going to see who can step up.” On this night, it was Varejao, who put on a show hitting jumpers and easy dunks, mostly off of James’ 11 assists.
The Cavs will be back in action on Sunday afternoon as they take on the worst team in the Eastern Conference, the Washington Wizards, who are 6-25 on the season.
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