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Attention Shoppers: LeBron James owns the fourth quarter and isn’t looking to sell.
James scored 13 points in the fourth on Wednesday night to power the Cavaliers to a 108-101 victory at the Wakovia Center in Philadelphia.
As has become commonplace this season, the Cavaliers (19-7) did enough through the first three and a half quarters to keep things close. Their star took care of things from then on.
“Late in the game when we were down, LeBron obviously was who he is,” said Cavs coach Mike Brown. ”He hit some big shots for us.”
Did he ever.
James took a short rest on the bench a few minutes into the final period, then returned to the game with just over six minutes remaining. At that point the Cavaliers trailed 94-90, but the 24-year-old All-Star quickly wiped away that slim deficit.
He made two three-pointers, sandwiching a couple of Andre Iguodala foul shots, to tie the game at 96-96. From there he got his sidekick, Mo Williams involved.
James assisted on two-straight Williams jumpers, one of them from beyond the arc, which broke open the game.
They were the first two field goals of the contest for Williams, who started the game 0-6 from the floor. No matter how cold Williams was at the time, James didn’t hesitate in passing to his teammate.
“If I get doubled on a pick-and-roll and Mo is open, I’m going to give him the ball,” said James. ”I think Mo has confidence in himself that, even when he’s out of rhythm, like he was tonight, he still believes he’s going to knock down the next shot.”
Williams’ struggles early in the game didn’t deter the Cavaliers offensively. Ten players scored in the first half for the visitors, led by 14 from James and eight a piece from J.J. Hickson and Shaquille O’Neal.
The Cavs shot 58 percent in the opening half, but still led by just five (60-55) at halftime.
The main reason was the accurate shooting of their opponents, who made 55 percent of their field goal attempts.
Although the 76ers are not known as an offensive juggernaut, they have the ability to get out and run, something they did at will against the Cavs.
“Obviously their athleticism showed tonight,” said Brown. ”It showed in transition. Every time we turned the ball over… those turnovers led to points.”
The 76ers scored 30 fast-break points in the game, while the Cavaliers managed just 14.
The edge in the second half belonged to the 76ers, at least in the third quarter.
Newly-reaquired guard Allen Iverson scored 10 of his 16 points in the third, a quarter in which the Sixers outscored the Cavs 25-23.
The Cavaliers made just six field goals in the quarter, relying on their ability to get to the free throw line.
They shot 10-13 from the stripe in the period and made 31-40 for the game.
The solid third quarter by the home team would be all for nothing, thanks to the play of James and Williams in the game’s final few minutes.
Williams is averaging nearly 36 minutes per game this season, but logged just 31 minutes against the 76ers. He sat out the first seven minutes of the fourth, but the time on the bench didn’t seem to bother the guard.
Seven of Williams’ 13 points came in the final quarter.
“Tonight I had Mo on the sidelines for a long time,” said Brown. ”I thought when he came into the game he hit a couple of big shots that either got us into the game or created a little bit of separation for us.”
Another reason for the lead the Cavaliers built in the fourth was the rough shooting of their opponents.
The Sixers made just 6-19 shots in the fourth quarter and didn’t get a single point from Iverson.
The fourth-quarter defense of the Cavaliers played a big part in the victory, but the game ultimately came down to the ability of James to score at will. He finished the game with 36 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
“The fourth quarter is where the game is won,” said James. ”I’m in a position that I can be one of the guys to close out the game for our team, and we did that.”

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Thu, Dec 17, 2009
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