National Basketball Association

LeBron too much for Blazers in Cavs' win

Published Jan. 10, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

LeBron James doesn't even stumble wearing two different shoes.

James, sporting one blue shoe and one orange shoe to go with Cleveland's retro uniforms, had 41 points and 10 rebounds in the Cavaliers' 106-94 victory over the late-charging Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.

James, who had 20 points in the first quarter alone, said it was the first time he'd worn two different shoes.

"And it won't be the last," he joked.

Shaquille O'Neal had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who won their sixth straight against Portland.

Brandon Roy scored 34 points for the Blazers, who trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half but rallied late, closing to 76-74 on two consecutive 3-pointers from Martell Webster and Andre Miller's layup.

Portland didn't get any closer until Roy's 3-pointer with 6:55 left tied it at 87.

After the teams traded free throws, Anderson Varejao hit a layup to give the Cavaliers back the lead at 91-89. Mo William's 3-pointer extended it to 95-89, and after a couple of costly Blazers turnovers, Jawad Williams hit a 3-pointer to stretch it to 98-89 with 2:58 left and Cleveland led the rest of the way.

"I told the guys we gotta play a little more free. I thought in the first half we were a little too controlled -- and playing that style of basketball we can't compete against them," Roy said. "We tried to play a little looser in the second half and we were able to get ourselves back into the game but (we) just didn't have enough down the stretch."

The Trail Blazers were hampered without a big man to counter O'Neal. Both Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla sustained season-ending knee injuries. Veteran Juwan Howard has been filling in.

Oden and Przybilla top a long list of injuries Portland is dealing with. Forwards Nicolas Batum (shoulder), Travis Outlaw (left foot) and Rudy Fernandez (back) are all rehabbing.

The Blazers did see the return Sunday night of guard Steve Blake, who was recently hospitalized for pneumonia and missed four games.

But the Blazers simply had no solution for James. His layup capped a 12-0 Cleveland run in the second quarter that stretched the lead to 46-31, and the Cavaliers led 64-49 at the break. James finished the first half with 31 points -- the most the Blazers have allowed in a half this season.

James was 8 for 8 from the floor in the first quarter, finished 13 of 19 from the field, and made 12 of 14 free-throw attempts.

"I just wanted to be aggressive," he said. "You have to be that way in order to get road wins, so that was my whole mindset going into tonight."

Portland was coming off an emotional 107-98 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night, and fans at the Rose Garden were hopeful. One held a sign reading: "LeBron may be King but we have ROYalty."

The Cavaliers were coming off a 99-97 loss Friday night to the Denver Nuggets, who won despite playing without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony.

"The first half, they came out like a team that had dropped one and had respect for what we had done," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "They came in here ready to play and jumped on us right away.

"We didn't give in in the second half and got ourselves back in the ball game with an opportunity to win it -- then it comes down to making some plays."

Notes: There was a moment of silence before the game for former Seattle Supersonics broadcaster Bob Blackburn, who died Friday at age 85 after a long illness. Blackburn was a fixture in the Pacific Northwest. ... In the first half, O'Neal tumbled into the courtside seats and planted a kiss on the cheek of actor Daniel Baldwin, who was sitting courtside in a Blazers jersey. ... Also in the crowd was former Blazer Chris Dudley, who is running for governor in Oregon. ... Brandon Roy surpassed 5,000 career points, making him the third-youngest Blazer to do so.