GUND ARENA Bulls rebound to defeat Cavs

LeBron James scored 18 points, but missed a crucial 3-point attempt late.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Jamal Crawford never left the court in outplaying LeBron James.
Crawford matched a season-high with 30 points and guarded James from the opening tip until the final buzzer in leading the Chicago Bulls to an 87-80 win Friday night over Cleveland.
Corie Blount had a crucial block in the final minute as the Bulls stopped a four-game losing streak.
Crawford bounced back from a horrid game last week against Cleveland when he went 7-for-27 from the floor in a 95-87 loss.
The streaky guard responded by playing the entire 48 minutes, shooting 12-of-20 with five assists and slowing James. The Bulls won for just the fourth time in 19 games.
"We owed them one," said Crawford, who came in shooting 14-of-54 in his last three games. "They came to our place and got one, and we wanted this one real bad. We wanted to get even."
Chicago's eighth win
The Bulls sealed their eighth win on Crawford's breakaway dunk with 21 seconds remaining after Blount swatted away Kevin Ollie's layup and made a quick outlet pass.
James scored 18 points but missed a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left that would have put the Cavaliers ahead. Cleveland misfired on its final eight shots and scored just one point after James' finger roll with 3:34 left.
In addition to carrying the Bulls' offense, the 6-foot-5 Crawford was given the assignment of guarding the 6-8 James, who has been on a recent scoring tear.
James had 34 on Thursday in an overtime loss to Orlando and came in averaging 28.5 points in his last eight games.
But Crawford made him work for everything he got and James went just 7-for-24, had a few shots rim out and forced a couple others.
"I knew I had some work to do," Crawford said. "When the coaches said, 'You take LeBron,' that meant a lot to have that confidence in me. It energized me."
Bulls' leaders
Kendall Gill added 21 points and Antonio Davis had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who took an 82-79 lead with 3:55 remaining on Davis' 14-foot jumper.
After Crawford missed a jumper, James drove to the basket and missed a short runner while trying to draw contact in the lane. He grabbed his own rebound but missed in a crowd underneath.
In frustration, James complained vehemently that he had been fouled, and Cavs coach Paul Silas joined in with an earful for the trio of officials.
Silas said James isn't getting the benefit of the doubt just yet.
"When he goes in hard, it's either a charge or a foul," Silas said. "He's going to the basket and not getting calls. He made contact several times but they [the officials] are not giving it up."
James didn't come through down the stretch for the second straight game. He didn't score in the OT loss to the Magic and was tired from the back-to-back games.
"I was a little winded," said James. "We had a chance to win and we just couldn't put it in there down the stretch. We just didn't execute."
Final surge
After James hit a layup to bring Cleveland within 82-79, Bulls rookie Kirk Hinrich made a free throw.
On Cleveland's next trip, Ollie went to the basket but was rejected by Blount, who fed Crawford for the dunk.
James then missed another short jumper, and Gill's two free throws with 13 seconds left iced it for Chicago.
"That play meant a lot," Blount said of his third block. "Not because it was me, but because it helped us win. We really needed a win."
Carlos Boozer added 10 points and 14 rebounds for Cleveland, which is now 5-6 since Dec. 6.
Crawford, who entered averaging 16.1 points per game, had 18 in the first half as the Bulls took a 46-45 lead at the break.