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(By TOM WITHERS From the Associated Press) - As chants of “M-V-P” filled the electrified air, LeBron James locked his thumbs under his maroon jersey and made it pop off his chest. The Cavaliers had beaten the NBA champions again, and James soaked in every second...Cleveland showed its Christmas Day win over Los Angeles was no gift as James scored 37 points, including 12 straight down the stretch, and the Cavs, playing their first game without injured Mo Williams, beat Kobe Bryant and the Lakers 93-87 on Thursday night. J.J. Hickson grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and Anderson Varejao made three free throws in the final 20 seconds as Cleveland swept the season series between the league’s top two teams. That could give the Cavs home-court advantage if they meet the Lakers in June’s finals...Bryant finished with 31 points but was only 4-of-15 in the second half as the Lakers lost the opener of an eight-game road trip. Pau Gasol(notes) scored 13 for Los Angeles, which shot just 33 percent in the final three quarters. Bryant surpassed 25,000 career points, but he was unable to match James in the fourth quarter as both teams turned to their superstars. Earlier, Bryant was looking forward to a physical game and was eager to see how the Lakers would respond to playing “smashmouth” basketball against Eastern Conference squads like Cleveland and Boston...Shaquille O’Neal scored 13 and Hickson, who had just two points in the first meeting with L.A., had 11 and was the difference inside as he outworked Gasol and Andrew Bynum.
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(From the Associated Press) -Chauncey Billups scored 13 of his 20 points in the third quarter to break open a tight game, and the Nuggets beat the Clippers 105-85 for their fifth straight victory. The winning streak matched a season-high and reversed the outcome of the teams’ Nov. 20 meeting at the Staples Center, when Clippers upset the Nuggets 106-99...“That was huge,” said Carmelo Anthony, who had his fourth double-double of the season with 28 points and 10 rebounds...Kenyon Martin added 13 points and 14 rebounds for Denver, which beat the Clippers for the sixth straight time at Pepsi Center. The Nuggets also won their sixth straight at home, where they are 19-3—the second-best mark in the NBA. Craig Smith scored 21 points to lead the Clippers, who fell to 0-12 on the road when scoring less than 100 points. Chris Kaman was the only other Clipper in double figures with 18 points. The Clippers, opening a season-long eight-game road trip, played without guards Eric Gordon (sprained left big toe) and Sebastian Telfair (groin). They were sidelined because of injuries sustained during Wednesday’s victory over Chicago at Staples Center. “We needed to find someone to score, another scorer and another threat that stretches the defense,” said Clippers guard Baron Davis. “It seems like as a team, whenever we are ready to make a push, somebody gets hurt.”
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(By TOM WITHERS From the Associated Press) - As chants of “M-V-P” filled the electrified air, LeBron James locked his thumbs under his maroon jersey and made it pop off his chest. The Cavaliers had beaten the NBA champions again, and James soaked in every second...Cleveland showed its Christmas Day win over Los Angeles was no gift as James scored 37 points, including 12 straight down the stretch, and the Cavs, playing their first game without injured Mo Williams, beat Kobe Bryant and the Lakers 93-87 on Thursday night. J.J. Hickson grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and Anderson Varejao made three free throws in the final 20 seconds as Cleveland swept the season series between the league’s top two teams. That could give the Cavs home-court advantage if they meet the Lakers in June’s finals...Bryant finished with 31 points but was only 4-of-15 in the second half as the Lakers lost the opener of an eight-game road trip. Pau Gasol(notes) scored 13 for Los Angeles, which shot just 33 percent in the final three quarters. Bryant surpassed 25,000 career points, but he was unable to match James in the fourth quarter as both teams turned to their superstars. Earlier, Bryant was looking forward to a physical game and was eager to see how the Lakers would respond to playing “smashmouth” basketball against Eastern Conference squads like Cleveland and Boston...Shaquille O’Neal scored 13 and Hickson, who had just two points in the first meeting with L.A., had 11 and was the difference inside as he outworked Gasol and Andrew Bynum.
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(From the Associated Press) -Chauncey Billups scored 13 of his 20 points in the third quarter to break open a tight game, and the Nuggets beat the Clippers 105-85 for their fifth straight victory. The winning streak matched a season-high and reversed the outcome of the teams’ Nov. 20 meeting at the Staples Center, when Clippers upset the Nuggets 106-99...“That was huge,” said Carmelo Anthony, who had his fourth double-double of the season with 28 points and 10 rebounds...Kenyon Martin added 13 points and 14 rebounds for Denver, which beat the Clippers for the sixth straight time at Pepsi Center. The Nuggets also won their sixth straight at home, where they are 19-3—the second-best mark in the NBA. Craig Smith scored 21 points to lead the Clippers, who fell to 0-12 on the road when scoring less than 100 points. Chris Kaman was the only other Clipper in double figures with 18 points. The Clippers, opening a season-long eight-game road trip, played without guards Eric Gordon (sprained left big toe) and Sebastian Telfair (groin). They were sidelined because of injuries sustained during Wednesday’s victory over Chicago at Staples Center. “We needed to find someone to score, another scorer and another threat that stretches the defense,” said Clippers guard Baron Davis. “It seems like as a team, whenever we are ready to make a push, somebody gets hurt.”
