Icon SMI

A slow start didn’t hinder the Cavaliers hopes for a victory on Sunday night, thanks to some long-range shooting in the second half.

The Rockets kept pace with the Cavaliers for the entire first half at Quicken Loans Arena, but quickly saw their chances of winning slip away.

LeBron James and Mo Williams caught fire to begin the second half, eventually sending Houston out of Cleveland with a 108-83 loss.

James and Williams combined for 25 points in the third quarter, doing most of it from beyond the arc.

After James made a running jumper to open the quarter, he and Williams started launching from deep. James hit two-straight threes, followed by three in-a-row for his teammate.

“Mo and I definitely came out aggressively on the offensive end and knocked down some threes,” said James after the game. ”We just turned the game around.”

The barrage of three-point shots helped the Cavaliers outscore the Rockets 32-15 in the third and put the game out of reach.

The Rockets were able to keep things close in the first half, even though they struggled to hit shots.

Houston shot 36 percent from the floor in the opening half, compared to 49 percent for the home team. The result should have been a big advantage for the Cavs at halftime, but they were only able to muster a three-point lead at the break.

Part of the problem was the hole the Cavaliers put themselves in to begin the game.

The Rockets scored 16 of the game’s first 20 points. They missed just one shot during that period, while their opponents struggled to hit anything.

The slow start was somewhat expected since the Cavaliers just finished a long road trip against four Western Conference teams.

“I thought, especially coming off the West Coast, we’d be a little sluggish to start the game,” said Cavs coach Mike Brown. ”After that, we played extremely well, especially the last three quarters.”

The Cavs outscored the Rockets 84-59 over the final three quarters, led by James, Williams and the team’s two centers.

James scored nearly a point per minute in the game. He finished with 29 points in just 30 minutes of action. He also added five rebounds, six assists and three steals.

The 24-year-old did his scoring from all over the court. He made his usual layups and dunks, but also added a couple mid-range jumpers and two three-pointers.

The game marks the 12th-straight contest in which James has scored 23 or more points. During that stretch the Cavaliers are an impressive 9-3.

Williams added 20 points in the victory, including 14 in the second half. He was 4-6 from beyond the arc as he continues to scorch the net from the three-point line.

“He’s done a nice job of running our team, getting guys in the right spot and getting the ball to the guys in the right spot,” said Brown. ”Often, he’s going to shoot and score the ball, and you kind of expect that.”

Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas also did was expected of them. O’Neal scored 13 points in the game. Ilgauskas added 12 of his own.

As is usually the case, Ilgauskas did his damage outside the paint, while O’Neal scored from the post.

Both players got what they wanted offensively against a small Rockets front-line that features 6-foot-6 Chuck Hayes at center. Cleveland finished the game with a 52-16 advantage in points in the paint.

The victory for the Cavaliers avenges a loss to the Rockets earlier in the season. The Cavs lost that game 95-85 as Trevor Ariza went off for 26 points on 11-19 shooting.

Ariza wasn’t as explosive on Sunday.

He shot just 2-10 from the floor en route to 11 points. Ariza is now shooting just 21 percent from the floor in the Rockets’ last four games as he continues to struggle with consistency.

“He’s got to be more aware, I think, and see what shots he’s getting and where he’s getting them,” said Rockets coach Rick Adelmen. ”He might be (pressing).”

 Aaron Brooks led the Rockets with 23 points, including 18 in the opening half.

After the game, Brooks summed up the game fairly well.

“They hit shots, we didn’t and those things happen,” said Brooks. ”LeBron came down and hit a couple of threes and, Mo hit a couple of threes, Shaq was Shaq in the middle, and it seemed like in the third quarter, we couldn’t stop the bleeding.”