Under the Weather, James Leads Cleveland Above Nets

CLEVELAND — LeBron James had a nasty head cold. The Nets had a bigger headache.

Cleveland's defense kept New Jersey's Big 3 from getting into an offensive flow and James sniffled his way to 21 points as the Cavaliers opened the Eastern Conference semifinals with an 81–77 victory over the Nets yesterday.

The Cavaliers came in well rested after their four-game sweep of Washington in the first round, and they needed every ounce of energy to hold off the Nets, who pulled within 79–77 on Vince Carter's two free throws with 19.5 seconds left.

But James, who came down with a cold during Cleveland's time off, scored on a tough drive to put Cleveland up by four, and on New Jersey's final possession, the Cavaliers clamped down on defense.

There were hands in faces, bodies banging bodies and James' block of Bostjan Nachbar's shot with 7.9 seconds to go. It was fundamental, team defense, the kind Cavs coach Mike Brown has been preaching to his squad all season.

"We closed the game like we should," Cavs guard Sasha Pavlovic said. "We played defense as a team."

Cleveland held New Jersey to 37% shooting and outrebounded the Nets 51–37.

Larry Hughes added 17 points and Pavlovic a playoff career-high 15 for the Cavs, who will host Game 2 on Tuesday night.

Vince Carter's 23 points led New Jersey, but Jason Kidd, who averaged a triple-double in the Nets' opening-round win over Toronto, had just seven on 2-of-11 shooting. Richard Jefferson, the third wheel in New Jersey's offensive machine, added 16 points.

New Jersey seemed to rely too much on 3-pointers and went just 5-of-20 from long range, mostly a result of the Cavs forcing them out of the lane. New Jersey's point total was its lowest in 22 playoff games.

"It's one game," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "You don't overreact. Give Cleveland credit."

A year ago, the Cavaliers were overmatched in their semifinal opener at Detroit. It was a tough lesson to learn, but the players swore they would grow from the experience, and one game into this series it looks as if they have.

Cleveland's victory was a struggle. The Cavs shot just 40 percent from the floor and they couldn't open a comfortable distance from the Nets, who were within 77–73 with 2:03 left on a layup by Jefferson.

Kidd then made a steal and was on his way in for an easy layup when Pavlovic, whose poor defense in the past kept him seated on Brown's bench, ran down New Jersey's guard from behind and swatted away his shot at the rim.

"I thought he was going to dunk it, he didn't and I just blocked it," Pavlovic said.

Hughes, who held Kidd without a point in the first half, hit a jumper to make it 79-75, and the Cavs were able to hold on thanks to their effort on defense.

James blamed his cold on a "change in the weather" before the game. At halftime, he sat on the Cavs' bench with his head covered with a towel and spent the final few minutes before play resumed blowing his nose.

Kidd missed his first five shots from the field and didn't score until hitting a free throw with 7:57 left in the third. But he followed that by hitting a 3-pointer and the Nets were able to pull even at 59-all after three.