James' long shots key Cavs

He made 6-for-7 behind the arc and scored 31 points as the Cavs won their season opener.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CLEVELAND -- This off-season, Cavaliers forward LeBron James spent hours working on his outside shot, refusing to leave the gym until he made 250 shots each day.
"Sometimes it takes me 400 shots, sometimes it's 650," he said.
Has it helped?
"You tell me," he said, smiling.
Cleveland, one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA last season, knew it would get better outside shooting this year after adding Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones.
Then, in the first game of the season, James stole the show, making 6-for-7 from behind the arc -- including four in a row in the second quarter -- as the Cavaliers cruised to a 109-87 victory over the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets on Wednesday at Quicken Arena.
"That was spectacular," Marshall said of James' shooting spree. "We stood up on the sidelines just like the fans. We wanted him to keep shooting."
James finished with a game-high 31 points -- 24 in the first half -- while Marshall added 18 points off the bench to give Mike Brown his first NBA head coaching victory.
Was it easier than he expected?
"I don't know if it was easy," Brown said. "If I could take my shirt off, you'd see the T-shirt underneath is wet all the way through."
Better defense
Cleveland shot 54 percent from the field and made 13 of 21 3-pointers, but Brown was most impressed with the Cavs' defense, especially in the second half.
"We know we can score," he said. "I think the most important thing we did was improve our weak side defense. It was very poor in the first half and at halftime, we addressed it and took care of it in the second half."
Brown, a former Indiana Pacers assistant, has preached the need for better defense since the first day of training camp. He was particularly unhappy with the Cavs' defense in the second quarter when he felt the team got caught up in watching James perform.
"LeBron made me look good on the sidelines," he said. "And I think all of us got caught up in watching him do his thing."
After giving up 28 points in the second quarter, Cleveland held New Orleans to 40 points in a second half utterly devoid of suspense.
Three other players finished in double figures for the Cavaliers -- Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Jones each had 12 points and Larry Hughes had 10 -- and Hughes added a game-high six assists.
"Larry Hughes, in my opinion, is big time," Brown said. "Here's a guy who just signed a new contract and was almost an NBA All-Star last year and he made it easier for everybody.
"He had some passes to guys where, if I could still jump a little, I might have had some dunks."
Not enough
Speedy Claxton had a team-high 16 points for the Hornets (1-1), who were coming off a 93-67 win over Sacramento on Monday.
"From the beginning of the game, it looked like we were scared," said Hornets coach Byron Scott. "We don't know how to win. That's the bottom line. We win a game but we don't know how to capitalize and take it to the next level.
"[The Cavs] came in with the intent of kicking butt and that's basically what they did."
The win was an encouraging start for a Cleveland team that has missed the playoffs the past two seasons.
But it's still early.
"We can't get too excited about one game," Marshall said. "Hopefully, it's a sign of things to come."
scalzo@vindy.com