King James ends thoughts of Bulls' upset with big fourth quarter

CLEVELAND - Joakim Noah was booed relentlessly inside Quicken Loans Arena on Monday and stuck it to the Cleveland fans by piling up 25 points and 13 rebounds.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, Cavaliers star LeBron James also felt disrespected and produced a fourth-quarter flurry that trumped the Bulls' valiant effort.

James scored 40 points and knocked down several tough jumpers down the stretch to break open a close game.

The Cavaliers won 112-102 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series. Game 3 is Thursday at the United Center.

"When somebody's playing like that, you want to be in their shoes," said Bulls guard Derrick Rose, who scored 23 points. "It's going to happen one day in my career, but I won't say anytime soon."

After knocking down those shots, James turned and looked at the Bulls' bench a few times. In the interview room, he explained what was going on.

"Every time I caught the ball down there, they were daring me to shoot the ball," James said. "Telling me that I couldn't shoot or 'You can't make jump shots, so take the shots.'

"They asked me to shoot a jump shot and I did that - over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over, and I continued to make them."

James hit 5 of 7 shots and scored 15 points in the fourth quarter. He got a huge assist from Cavs reserve Jamario Moon, who drained 4 of 5 shots from 3-point land, including a perfect 3-for-3 in the fourth quarter.

"I've been in the zone quite a few times, so I know how that feels," James said of Moon's hot shooting.

The stat sheet showed a number of improvements from Game 1 for the Bulls. They committed just 4 turnovers and outperformed the Cavs in offensive rebounds (13-5), points in the paint (56-38) and second-chance points (21-7).

The Bulls even launched 22 more shots than Cleveland on Monday. But James' big finish and the Cavs' 3-point shooting (10-for-20) made the difference.

"Honestly, we're OK," Bulls forward Luol Deng said. "We're the eighth seed; they're the No. 1 seed. They've got to go back to our place. We played hard. They did what they had to do. Now we've got to take care of our place."

Most of the Bulls felt encouraged by the competitive performance, but winning at home won't be any easier if James is stuck on automatic.

"My confidence isn't going anywhere," Rose said. "I'm sill on the court clapping, no matter how much we're down, just trying to get my guys going. Letting them know we have two more games at home, so why can't we win those and bring it back here, tie it up?"

There were 16 lead changes during the first three quarters, and the teams headed into the fourth locked in a 77-77 tie. But Cleveland started the final quarter with 5 straight points while James was on the bench and the Bulls played catch-up the rest of the way.

Deng completed a 3-point play with 4:45 left to bring the Bulls within 96-93, but that's when James took over. The likely repeat MVP answered with a 3-pointer, then added 2 free throws and a scoop shot while the Bulls missed a pair of jumpers. That run sent Cleveland ahead 103-93 with 2:58 left and the Bulls were done.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Deng left the game briefly after banging his right knee while getting called for a blocking foul against James.

He was back on the floor 14 seconds later, but James was ready for him. The Bulls actually switched Kirk Hinrich onto James at one point and he finally forced a miss, but it was too late.

"My leg felt a little weak," Deng said. "What are you going to? I'll never use my knee as an excuse. I tried to keep him out of the paint and he hit some tough shots."

The Bulls ended up with five players in double figures. Deng added 20 points, Flip Murray scored 14 off the bench, and Taj Gibson had 11. After James, Cleveland's second-leading scorer was Antawn Jamison with 14 points.

<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike McGraw's game tracker</p>

<p class="News">Cavaliers 112, Bulls 102</p>

<p class="News"><b>Three star performers</b></p>

<p class="News">1. LeBron James took over during winning time. He scored 15 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter. Once Luol Deng's 3-point play brought the Bulls within 96-93 with 4:45 left, James scored on the next four possessions to put the game away.</p>

<p class="News">2. Joakim Noah. Boo all you want, road crowds, you're just making him more powerful. Noah turned the extreme negative energy inside Quicken Loans Arena into 25 points and 13 rebounds. Shaquille O'Neal (8 points, 4 fouls, 4 turnovers) was limited to 15 minutes.</p>

<p class="News">3. Jamario Moon stayed parked on the Cavs bench for much of the season. But he used to hurt the Bulls when he played for Toronto and was damaging Monday, hitting 4 of 5 shots from 3-point range.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Stronger and better:</b> The Bulls battled Cleveland down to the final three minutes in Game 2, but never led in the fourth quarter. The visitors committed just 4 turnovers, dominated the offensive glass (13-5) and took 22 more shots than the Cavs. Can they play any better at home Thursday?</p>

<p class="News"><b>Last word:</b> Asked if he regretted his comments about having nothing to do in Cleveland, Noah said, "Not at all. You like it? You think Cleveland's cool? I mean, I've never heard anybody say, 'I'm going to Cleveland on vacation.' What's so good about Cleveland?" No one spoke up.</p>

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<h2>Stories</h2>

<ul class="links">

<li><a href="/story/?id=374511"><b>IMREM:</b> Fun name of the game for Noah<span class="date"> [4/19/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=374368">Noah latest enemy for Cavs fans<span class="date"> [4/19/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=374530">Bulls just fine with Noah talk<span class="date"> [4/19/10]</span></a></li>

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