Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal scored 20 points apiece to pace a balanced Cleveland approach, snapping a season-high three-game slide in the process with a 105-95 home win over New Orleans.
LeBron, Shaq Lead Balance Attack As Cavaliers Beat Hornets
James added 13 assists and Antawn Jamison, playing in his first home game as a Cavalier, scored 18 with six rebounds.
Anderson Varejao and Delonte West logged valuable minutes off the bench, contributing 14 and 13 points, respectively. Anthony Parker also had 13 points in the win.
West and Mo Williams drained back-to-back threes to help break open a tie game at 89 with 4 1/2 minutes left as Cleveland held off a feisty Hornets club and a career performance from rookie Marcus Thornton.
Thornton scored a franchise-record 23 points in the second quarter on the way to a career-best 37 points on 15-of-22 shooting. Fellow rising first-year star Darren Collison had 22 points and 10 assists.
David West added 17 points for the Hornets, who had won two in a row coming in.
New Orleans entered the fourth quarter down six but Thornton stroked a three and nailed a jumper moments later to get within 82-81 a little more than two minutes in.
Thornton later gave the visitors a one-point edge on two free throws and made it an 87-85 lead on a layup with seven minutes remaining.
The game remained close until Williams and West hit from long distance to shatter a tie score and allow Cleveland a 95-89 advantage with 3:40 to go.
The Cavs were able to hold it to a two-possession game with buckets from Jamison and James answering Hornet scores, and James flashed a quick pull-up three with 59.2 seconds left that served as the ultimate dagger for New Orleans.
Cleveland was up 28-16 after 12 minutes, but New Orleans gained a 56-53 edge at the break thanks to Thornton’s 10-of-13 shooting in the frame. New Orleans shot 70.8 percent for the quarter (17-of-24), outscoring the Cavs 40-25.
The Cavs went back to work in the third, and following a back-and-forth sequence that featured a five-point effort by Shaq in the paint, James hit a layup for a one-point edge with 8:10 remaining.
Parker’s three and a dunk from Jamison later created some separation, but Thornton proved to be a difficult cover and tied the game at 74 each with a three and ensuing layup with 2:42 left.
Jamison scored the final four points of the quarter for an 82-76 lead.
The Cavs last lost four straight games early in the 2007-08 season. Cleveland improved to 20-6 against the Western Conference this season and an NBA-best 25-4 at Quicken Loans Arena...New Orleans opened a short two-game road trip and will play Wednesday in Milwaukee, and is 11-18 away from the Big Easy this season...Cleveland still has the NBA’s best record at 44-14...Williams finished with eight assists and six points on the night. Shaq added seven boards...New Orleans shot an even 50 percent, while Cleveland connected on 48.8 percent of its shots.
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