Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - LeBron James connected on several highlight- reel shots in the final minutes, scoring 15 of his 40 points over the final eight minutes, as Cleveland took care of its homecourt edge with a 112-102 victory over Chicago in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
Cavaliers 112, Bulls 102: LeBron Leads Cleveland’s Late Charge For 2-0 Series Advantage
Quicken Loans Arena was on pins and needles through three periods, as the youthful Bulls attacked the rim and dominated the interior. The fourth period belonged to James, and his unlikely sidekick Jamario Moon, who scored 12 points on the game thanks to four three-pointers. Antawn Jamison scored 14 points and Mo Williams added 12 points with six assists for Cleveland, which takes a 2-0 series to Chicago for Game 3 on Thursday.
Joakim Noah scored a career playoff-high 25 points to go along with 13 rebounds, Derrick Rose added 23 points and eight assists -- to just one turnover -- and Luol Deng totaled 20 points with six rebounds and five assists. Ronald Murray even added 14 points off the bench for the Bulls, who were outdone by James' herculean effort in the fourth.
The two teams jockeyed for an edge in the third period with Chicago relying on an inside attack to stay close. Noah’s left-hand driving layup handed the visitors a 77-74 advantage late in the period, but Cleveland rallied for the final three points to even the score at 77-77 after 36 minutes of game action.
The game’s momentum came down to big treys from a pair of Cavs sharp-shooters in the fourth quarter. Moon collected and fired a high-arching three from the right corner for an 85-80 edge with just under 10 minutes to play. The Bulls trimmed the deficit to 91-88 on a Rose jumper nearly four minutes later, but Moon connected again, from nearly the identical spot, for a 94-88 lead.
Again, Chicago cut the margin to one-possession, but James stopped and dropped a dagger from long distance over Noah’s outstretched arms for a 99-93 game with 4:20 to go.
James then kept it going, scoring a total of 11 straight Cleveland points, including a a contested jumper and a streaking layup in traffic. His final jumper opened a 107-98 lead with only 1:36 to play and put a wrap on the victory.
Anthony Parker, 1-of-6 from beyond the arc in the opener, drained two early treys to set the tone. James' late emphatic slam put a punctuation mark on a first quarter controlled by the Cavs, who held Chicago to 34.6 shooting and took a 28-22 edge into the second stanza.
The Bulls never let Cleveland pull away in the second quarter, rattling off six straight -- all on inside buckets by Noah -- to level the contest at 50-50. James answered with a pull-up jumper for the halftime margin of two.
Deng, bothered by knee ailments all season, left the game briefly in the fourth with a right knee injury...Chicago held a 56-38 edge in interior scoring...The Bulls also outscored Cleveland, 21-7, on second-chance points...The game featured 10 ties and 17 lead changes...Cleveland made 10- of-20 treys after connecting on only 6-of-23 in Game 1...James also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out eight assists...Parker scored nine points in the win...Taj Gibson finished with 11 points and seven rebounds for the Bulls.
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