Birthday Boy LBJ Gets Double-Double While Cavaliers Get Win Over Hawks 106-101!

Posted by Jeff Sack under NBA Game Recap

While December 30, is not officially a holiday in the city of Cleveland, Ohio it is certainly celebrated as if it were. You see LeBron James birthday is December 30 and if LeBron James was never born the Cavaliers most likely would be based in Seattle these days. However on that June day in 2003 the team’s history and fortune brightened considerably.

This year “The Chosen One” got to celebrate at the Q Arena as he recorded yet another double-double including a game high 48 points and the Cavaliers swept a rare two game home and home series against the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday with a 106-101 victory. Cleveland had defeated the Hawks in Atlanta on Tuesday night by a 95-84 margin. The win was the sixth straight for the Cavaliers who have 9-11 and they have gone 26-6 since dropping the first two games of the campaign. Joe Johnson led the way for Atlanta with 35 points in the loss.

The Hawks were looking for vengeance in the first for their loss the night before and they would grab a 30-23 lead at the end of the quarter. They looked like they were on their way to a very lopsided victory in the second quarter as they would enter the locker room at the half on top 64-52.

Cleveland was able to knock a bit off their deficit in the third quarter and would be back within single digits as the period came to an end with Atlanta leading 85-77. That is when LBJ got into party mode as Cleveland started to methodically chip away at the Hawks lead.

The Cavaliers would pull ahead at 94-93 with 4:41 left to play when James drove to the hole putting the ball up and in. The two opponents would trade the lead back and forth over the next few minutes until with 17 seconds left in the game Cleveland forward Anderson Varejao connected on his first trey of his NBA career from 26 feet out and his club went ahead to stay 104-101.

LeBron James recorded a double-double as he knocked down his season high 48 points, 10 boards, 6 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals while Mo Williams also had a double-double with 14 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Anderson Varejao came off the bench and scored 14 points, 9 rebounds and 3 block while Shaquille O’Neal added 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block.

Joe Johnson scored 35 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals while Mike Bibby had 20 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 steal. Josh Smith and Jamal Crawford each added 11 points while Al Horford put up 10 more. Cleveland now has a record of 26-8 and will play on Saturday as they travel to New Jersey to take on the Nets while Atlanta is now 21-10 and will host the Knicks on Friday.

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One Response to “Birthday Boy LBJ Gets Double-Double While Cavaliers Get Win Over Hawks 106-101!”

Heels in the League (NBA) 12/30/09 (Part 1) | The 5th Corner on December 31st, 2009 6:41 pm

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