NBA Cavs' comeback pads skein to 3

The Cavs overcame the Hornets' 16-point lead for their third straight win.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Paul Silas can't help himself. He still has a soft spot for his former team.
But the coach is beginning to love his new one even more.
Rookie LeBron James scored 22 points -- 18 in the second half -- and Eric Williams scored 13 of his 16 in the fourth quarter Tuesday as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied for their third straight win, 97-86 over the New Orleans Hornets.
The Cavaliers, who recently snapped a 34-game road losing streak, came back from 16 down and have won three in a row for the first time since April 6-10, 2002 -- a span of 113 games.
Cleveland's win gave Silas some revenge against the Hornets, whom he coached for five years before being fired after last season.
"It was sweet," Silas said. "There's no doubt. I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't. Those guys are still my guys. I want them to do well, but certainly not when they play us."
3-1 since trade
Slowly, the Cavaliers are turning around their season. Since making a six-player trade with Boston last week, the Cavs have gone 3-1 and finally have a streak to be proud of.
"I like to win," said James, who shot poorly (7-of-22) but added six rebounds and a season-high six steals. "I'm a winner, so yeah, I'm happy."
James took over in the third quarter, scoring 11 points, and Williams carried Cleveland in the fourth when the Cavs stepped it up on the defensive end.
Despite having an off night, James stayed aggressive in the third, twice stole the ball from Hornets guard Baron Davis in the fourth and wouldn't let the Cavs lose.
Carlos Boozer added 17 points and 14 rebounds for Cleveland, which at 9-19 is more than halfway to its win total (17) of last season.
Davis had 27 points to lead New Orleans. However, after making his first five shots, the Hornets' leading scorer went just 4-of-22 from the field.
Hounded by James
Davis was also hounded in the fourth by James, who held him to 1-of-11 shooting -- 1-of-7 on 3-pointers -- and two turnovers in the final 12 minutes.
"I had to go out and stop him, and I kind of did that," James said. "We locked down on defense in the second half."
P.J. Brown had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Hornets.
New Orleans, which led 70-66 after three periods, was outscored 31-16 in the fourth quarter and lost for the fourth time in five games.
Trailing 56-40 early in the third, the Cavs stormed back and took their first lead at 75-72 on Williams' 3-pointer with 7:33 remaining. Williams then made a short jumper in the lane to finish off an 11-0 run that put the Cavs up by five.
With Cleveland's defense contesting every pass and shot, the Hornets missed five straight attempts and made three turnovers to help the Cavs' comeback.
"We just missed shots," Davis said. "We didn't get into our offense, we didn't look to penetrate. We had some easy shots that we just didn't knock down."
George Lynch's 3-pointer got the Hornets within 77-76, but the Cavs reeled off eight straight points with James hitting the big shot -- a 3-pointer with 2:37 left.
Cavs reel off run
James, averaging 28.5 points in his last six games, then stole the ball from Davis and scored on a layup to make it 87-80, sending the crowd of 16,609 into the kind of frenzy that had been missing the past few years at Gund Arena.
"Somebody whispered in my ear that this was the loudest crowd they've seen here," said Williams, who came over in the six-player trade from Boston on Dec. 15. "That's what we want."
James was just 3-of-14 from the floor and the Cavs were down by 12 in the third when he decided it was time to get busy, scoring 11 in the final 5:58 to get Cleveland within 70-66 after three.