NBA A punished O'Neal punishes Cavs with a season-high 37

Los Angeles attempted 38 free throws after halftime in the 111-106 overtime win.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Shaquille O'Neal showed no remorse for his obscene comments -- or for what he did to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Returning from a one-game suspension, O'Neal scored a season-high 37 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 111-106 overtime victory against Cleveland on Wednesday night.
"After my brief little suspension, I was trying to get 50 and make a statement," O'Neal said. "But I missed too many at the line."
Gary Payton added a season-high 30 points as the Lakers improved to 2-1 on a seven-game road trip -- the club's longest since 1992.
James scores 32
LeBron James scored 32 points -- including three 3-pointers in OT -- for Cleveland, but shot an airball from 21 feet with a chance to win it at the end of regulation.
"It was right on line," James said. "It just fell short."
O'Neal was back after serving his suspension for profanely criticizing officials during a live TV interview following a win at Toronto on Sunday.
Although, he had apologized earlier this week, O'Neal said he doesn't regret any of his R-rated comments.
And he had nothing to curse or complain about as he was able to foul out both of Cleveland's 7-foot centers, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and DeSagana Diop, and attempted 20 free throws.
"I said what I felt," O'Neal said. "People are trying to control people. But you can never control me. I'm a 31-year-old juvenile delinquent. No one can control me."
O'Neal finished 9-of-20 at the line and the Lakers were 26-of-42 as a team.
But when it counted most, O'Neal and his teammates, who attempted 38 free throws after halftime, stepped up and drilled their foul shots.
On target
Los Angeles scored its final 10 points on free throws, sinking its final eight tries while outscoring the Cavs 19-14 in overtime.
Carlos Boozer had 25 points and 16 rebounds and Eric Williams scored all 20 of his points after halftime for the Cavs, who are 7-3 since Jan. 17.
Leading by two, the Cavs decided to employ the "Hack a Shaq" strategy and fouled O'Neal with 32.9 seconds remaining in regulation. But L.A's big man dropped in two knuckleballs to tie it 92-92.
Jeff McInnis missed a runner in the lane with 14 seconds remaining, but Boozer tipped the ball back out to give the Cavs a final chance.
James ran the clock down to about 3 seconds, but instead of driving to the basket on Payton, chose to try an off-balance fadeaway jumper that barely grazed the net.
"I took a swipe at it but didn't get it, and he shot an airball," Payton said. "I knew what was going down and I played him hard. I figured I'd make him take the fadeaway."
Cavs coach Paul Silas didn't second-guess James' decision to try an outside shot, but hinted that he wished James had taken the ball strongly to the basket.
Let him learn
"This is a game of habits," said Silas, who has been encouraging James to drive more often. "Maybe it's a habit that needs to be broken. But he has to figure that out."
O'Neal scored underneath to open overtime, and after the Cavs missed their first three shots -- all from the perimeter -- Payton's jumper put the Lakers up by six.