LeBron doing all he can to keep Cavs atop Eastern Conference
There's no question LeBron James' latest effort on the court suggests he is doing all he can to help the Cleveland Cavaliers hold onto the Eastern Conference's top seed.
With a few inquiries lingering about his recent work on social media, James will try to turn the outside talk back to basketball with another strong performance against the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on FOX Sports Ohio
With the Internet abuzz about his social media habits, James dropped 33 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in Monday's 124-91 rout of Denver, helping the Cavaliers regroup from an ugly blowout loss to his former team in Miami two nights earlier.
James' 41st triple-double helped Cleveland (50-20) clinch its second straight Central Division title and 50-win season. His 19th of the 30-point variety - five more than Michael Jordan and seven more than Magic Johnson - softened the blow of Saturday's embarrassing 122-101 loss in which the Cavs trailed by as many as 33 points while James sat the entire fourth quarter.
However, the discovery that the four-time MVP unfollowed his own team on Twitter earlier in the day had the Internet exploding. When asked why by a reporter, he responded, "Next question."
James, though, had plenty to offer beforehand on the Cavaliers' accomplishments.
"Along the journey you never want to take things for granted and accomplishments that happen along the way,'' he said. ''You've got to take it in. It's not given every year, obviously, that you can win a division title, win 50 games in a league where it's so hard to win."
The latest victory pushed Cleveland's advantage in the East 1 1/2 games over Toronto.
James carried the load against the Nuggets without Kevin Love, who sat with an illness, while Kyrie Irving made just 4 of 12 shots for eight points.
Love has missed three games this month, though he is expected to play against the Bucks. He averaged 23 points and 14.5 rebounds in two November meetings with Milwaukee.
James averaged 32 points, 10.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists while the Cavs and Bucks split those games. Cleveland has won three of four in this series and five of six at Quicken Loans Arena, where it's 29-6.
James has scored at least 30 points against the Bucks 18 times in 45 career meetings, reaching 40 five times and 50 twice. He has two triple-doubles against them.
Milwaukee (30-41) was searching for its fifth win in seven games Monday but coughed up a 13-point third-quarter lead before Andre Drummond's tip-in with 2 seconds left sealed a 92-91 loss at Detroit.
The Bucks fell to 9-27 on the road with their third loss in four games.
''We play great defense on their last shot, force a miss and the ball bounces to the best offensive rebounder in the league,'' coach Jason Kidd said. ''We did just about everything right and still lost the game.''
Giannis Antetokounmpo has four triple-doubles in the last 15 games, and he posted 21 points, 12 rebounds and five assists against the Pistons. The third-year pro poured in a career-high 33 points - making 12 of 15 shots - in a 115-100 loss at Cleveland on Nov. 19.
The Cavs' Channing Frye, acquired from Orlando at the trade deadline, has averaged 12.6 points while making 22 of 37 3s over the last seven games.
