James' stunning fourth quarter lifts Cavs to win

TORONTO: LeBron James scored a team record 24 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter to lead a Cleveland Cavaliers' rally for a 93-90 road victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.

"I just felt like I was out there by myself like in practice," James told reporters. "The hoop felt like the ocean."

James connected on eight of 10 field-goal attempts in the quarter as the Cavaliers rallied from a 70-57 deficit after three quarters, outscoring the Raptors 36-20.

"LeBron in the fourth quarter was amazing," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown told reporters. "He just took the ball game over and put us on his back. What a tremendous, tremendous performance."

James hit three three-pointers in the quarter, including back-to-back shots that took Cleveland from an 80-78 deficit to an 84-80 advantage with 3:21 to play.

His running jump shot gave the Cavaliers the lead for good at 86-84 after Toronto had tied the score with 2:09 to go.

"I was able to control the tempo in the fourth quarter with my penetration, getting into the lane and kicking out for threes," James added.

He had made only six of 19 shots in the first three quarters.

Chris Bosh scored 23 points for the Raptors who led by 20 points in the second quarter.

The Cleveland comeback was the largest-ever by a Raptors opponent in Toronto.

Dirk Nowitzki had 30 points and Josh Howard added 22 as the Dallas Mavericks cruised to a 101-78 road victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, who lost their eighth game in a row.

Pau Gasol's 28 points and 13 rebounds led the Memphis Grizzlies to a 101-94 home win over the Miami Heat, who lost for the seventh consecutive game. Dwyane Wade had 18 points for Miami, but connected on only seven of 20 field-goal attempts.

Tony Parker scored 26 points and Tim Duncan contributed 17 points and 17 rebounds in the San Antonio Spurs' 88-82 road win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Manu Ginobili returned from a finger injury to add 23 points for the Spurs.

Allen Iverson's 38 points powered the Denver Nuggets to a 109-96 home victory over Iverson's former team, the Philadelphia 76ers.

Agencies

(China Daily 01/08/2008 page24)