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CLEVELAND – Standing at midcourt, LeBron James spun the ball on his index finger as the final seconds ticked off the clock. He had the Hornets turning in circles all night.
James scored 17 of his season-high 44 points in the fourth quarter and reached another career milestone as the Cleveland Cavaliers won their fourth straight victory, 116-105, over Charlotte on Saturday.
James did it all, making five 3-pointers and adding 10 assists and nine rebounds in 43 minutes. He took over in the fourth, scoring 13 straight during one stretch to help the Cavs hold on.
“A lot of our guys had heavy legs tonight and it was up to me to get through it,” he said. “He carried us,” teammate Kevin Love said. “I kept telling him, ‘Take us home.’”
James, who moved into ninth place on the career scoring list Friday, recorded his 7,000th assist in the first half, becoming the first frontcourt player in NBA history to reach the plateau.
The 31-year-old is the only player with 27,000 points, 7,000 assists and 7,000 rebounds.
“I don’t know what to say,” James said when asked about the achievement. “That’s the triple threat of me. To rebound, to pass, to put the ball in the hole a little bit. It’s just an honor. I’m just blessed. To be the only one to put up those numbers is pretty cool because this is the game I love. It’s the game I watched my whole life growing up, so it’s incredible.”
Cleveland shot a season-best 58 percent from the field and beat Charlotte for the sixth straight time at home. (AP)
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