Cavs' James just too much for Bulls

CLEVELAND - The Bulls might be a decent team when the players get on the same page. But right now they're still reading from different chapters.

That's not a good place to be when LeBron James, who walked into the arena wearing a Barack Obama T-shirt, is feeling inspired.

James was more unstoppable than usual Wednesday, finishing with 41 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals while leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a relatively easy 107-93 victory over the Bulls.

This was James' highest point total against the Bulls, and he now has scored at least 30 for six straight games in this series.

"He's an amazing player. You get caught up watching him sometimes," Bulls rookie Derrick Rose said. "We could have guarded him better, forcing jump shots instead of going to the hole. We weren't talking enough on defense. That's the reason we messed up on switching over on him."

The Bulls (2-3) bluffed a few comebacks but never got closer than 7 points in the second half.

Down 90-83 midway through the fourth quarter, the visitors had three chances to draw closer. But Ben Gordon missed a jumper, then Drew Gooden fired up a long airball that drew an angry display from coach Vinny Del Negro on the sideline. Finally, Luol Deng couldn't control a loose ball with a chance to ignite the fastbreak.

James took advantage, grabbing the ball at full speed and jetting to the basket for an easy lay-in and 3-point play that made it 93-83 with 4:56 remaining. James hit 13 of 23 shots from the field and 15 of 16 free throws.

"I thought we gave them some easy trips to the free- throw line," Gordon said. "Instead of trying to make second or third efforts to maybe get to a spot a little earlier or maybe trying to draw a charge or making them kick it out, we gave them too many trips to the free-throw line.

"Offensively, we had too many unforced turnovers. It just seemed like we had a lack of focus."

The Bulls' tendency lately, with such a deep roster, is to find a few guys with a hot hand in every game. Gordon (31 points), Rose (20 points, 7 assists) and Deng (18 points) had it going. Kirk Hinrich (2 points), Gooden (4-for-13) and Thabo Sefolosha (scoreless in 18 minutes) did not.

Even with James on top of his game, the Bulls had plenty of chances to stay closer but hurt themselves with sloppy passes and an inability to finish near the rim.

Del Negro was glad to see Deng get going offensively. In his previous three games, the fifth-year forward hit just 6 of 31 shots (19.4 percent) and averaged 6.7 points. Against the Cavs, Deng knocked down 7 of 15 attempts.

"I still don't feel like I'm playing how I want to play," Deng said. "Tonight I just hit jump shots."

Former Bulls center Ben Wallace had a decent game, racking up 14 rebounds and 2 steals. Guard Delonte West added 16 points for Cleveland (3-2).

Rose scored the Bulls' first 6 points of the game and hit his first NBA 3-pointer in the second quarter.

"He's still trying to find his way, and he'll be doing that for a while," Del Negro said. "Sometimes he's trying to be too unselfish. I think he's still got to learn to take control of the game a little bit better, and we've got to learn getting him into sets where he has the ability to do that more."

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