THURSDAY’S NBA : James, Cavaliers extend streak to 6
Posted on Friday, November 14, 2008
CLEVELAND — LeBron James got something that’s been hard for him to come by: a victory over good buddy Carmelo Anthony.
James scored 22 points, most of them coming with Anthony guarding him, but Cleveland’s megastar was on the bench when Mo Williams and the Cavaliers finally put away the Denver Nuggets and won their sixth consecutive game, 110-99 on Thursday night.
Williams scored a season-high 24 points and hit a crucial threepointer in the fourth quarter, a shot that put the Cavs ahead by 12 and sent James racing onto the floor in celebration.
James had lost his past five games against Anthony, whom he has known since high school, and is now 3-8 against his U. S. Olympic teammate since they broke into the league together in 2003. James added 11 assists and eight rebounds as the Cavs beat the Nuggets for the first time since Dec. 15, 2005.
The Nuggets lost for the first time in four games since acquiring Chauncey Billups in the trade that sent Allen Iverson to Detroit.
Billups scored a season-high 26 points — 18 in the first half — Anthony had 18 and Kenyon Martin 12 with 10 rebounds for Denver. Martin, who had missed the previous two games with a sprained wrist, was ejected with 55 seconds left after he was called for a flagrant-2 foul for slamming his shoulder into Cleveland forward Anderson Varejao.
Before leaving the floor, Martin screamed obscenities at referee Joey Crawford before he was grabbed by Nuggets Coach George Karl and escorted off.
In another game, Ben Gordon scored 35 points and the host Chicago Bulls roared back from an early 19-point deficit to send the Dallas Mavericks to their fourth consecutive loss, 98-91. Luol Deng added 20 points and rookie Derrick Rose had 14 of his 16 in the third quarter for the Bulls. Josh Howard, returning after missing two games with sore wrist, led Dallas with 21 points and added 11 rebounds. Erick Dampier had 16 points and 18 rebounds.
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