National Basketball Association

LeBron's triple-double leads Cavs over Kings

Published Dec. 24, 2009 5:57 a.m. ET

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LeBron James had 34 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Cleveland Cavaliers held the Sacramento Kings scoreless in overtime to pick up a 117-104 win Wednesday night.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas hit three 3-pointers in the extra session and finished with 25 points as the Cavaliers beat the Kings for the seventh straight time. Mo Williams returned from a bruised knee to score 21 of his 27 points after halftime.

Cleveland heads into its Christmas showdown with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers having won seven of eight games.

James scored 26 points in the first half but it was his defense in the fourth quarter and overtime against rookie Tyreke Evans that proved to be the difference. The Kings missed all seven shots and turned the ball over twice in OT.

Evans finished with 28 points, but made only one of eight shots in the fourth and overtime as the Cavaliers put James on him in a sign of respect. Omri Casspi and Jason Thompson each scored 18 and Spencer Hawes had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Sacramento.

Anthony Parker hit a jumper on Cleveland's first possession of overtime that proved to be all the Cavs would need. Ilgauskas' first 3-pointer made it 111-104 with just over 2 minutes left. He hit another 3 with less than a minute remaining to put the game away and added the third with 14 seconds left for good measure. Ilgauskas has made all four of his 3-point attempts this season.

Two days after rallying from 35 points down to win in Chicago in the biggest comeback in the NBA in 13 seasons, the Kings stayed close with the more heralded Cavaliers the entire game. Neither team was ever able to open up a double-digit lead in regulation and Sacramento had a chance to win it but Evans couldn't get a shot off in the final seconds of regulation.

Evans had tied it at 104 with an acrobatic drive past James with 38.7 seconds remaining. But that was all Evans would get against James down the stretch. He often tried to take the ball right at James with little success. After one nifty move, he ended shooting an air ball from in close.

The game featured high-quality offensive play from both teams, as players consistently hit jumpers and were able to get to the basket. In one particularly exciting stretch, Donte Greene slammed home a perfect alley-oop feed from Evans, then stole a pass from Shaquille O'Neal and beat James at the other end for a layup.

The Kings led by four points midway through the second quarter when James and O'Neal re-entered the game. James promptly hit three straight jumpers and a free throw following a technical foul on Sacramento coach Paul Westphal as part of a 19-3 run for Cleveland. The Cavaliers led 57-53 at the half.

NOTES: Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, who grew up in nearby Vallejo and became friends with James when he pitched in Cleveland, sat near the Cavs bench. ... The Kings started five players age 23 or younger. The old man in the lineup was the 23-year-old Thompson.