Thursday, February 16, 2006
James scored 43 points in the 113-109 double overtime win at Boston.
BOSTON (AP) -- LeBron James had 43 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his fourth triple-double of the season and the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame Paul Pierce's 50-point performance to beat the Boston Celtics 113-109 in double overtime on Wednesday night.
Drew Gooden added 19 points and 11 rebounds and Damon Jones had 13 points for Cleveland.
Pierce shot 17-for-36 from the field and 16-for-20 from the free-throw line to become the first Celtic to score 50 since Larry Bird did it on Nov. 10, 1989.
Matches last year's mark
Cleveland (31-21) matched its 52-game record from last year. While the Cavaliers closed last season 11-19 and missed the playoffs, this year's team enters the All-Star break in second place in Central Division.
The Celtics trailed by as many as 13, but Pierce scored 31 points after the first half to keep the game close before fouling out with 1:00 remaining in the second overtime. Boston (20-32) lost its seventh game in nine tries.
James, coming off a 44-point performance against San Antonio on Monday night, drew Pierce's final foul with 1:00 remaining and made 1-of-2 free throws to put the Cavaliers up 109-107.
On Cleveland's next possession, James sealed the game with a layup in traffic.
Wally Szczerbiak scored 17 points and Delonte West added 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Celtics.
Missed free throws
Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 14 points for Cleveland, but missed a pair of free throws with 7.1 seconds remaining in regulation that would have iced the game.
Following Ilgauskas' misses, Pierce drew a foul on James with 0.2 seconds remaining and hit both free throws to send the game into overtime.
After a pair of Ryan Gomes layups gave the Celtics a 90-88 lead with 1:54 remaining, James hit a layup in traffic to tie the game.
James then deflected a pass to Pierce, raced down the floor, received an Eric Snow pass at the free-throw line and threw down a slam dunk over West to put the Cavaliers up 92-90 with 1:23 left.
Damon Jones made 1-of-2 free throws with 26.4 seconds remaining and James blocked a West 3-point attempt in the closing seconds.
James was outscored by Pierce 17-6 in the fourth quarter and missed a potential game-winning free throw in the closing seconds of the first overtime before redeeming himself in the second overtime.
Notes
The Cavaliers won in Boston for just the second time in 14 tries. ... James has eight career triple-doubles. ... West was selected to replace Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson on the sophomore team in the 2006 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge. Nelson will miss the game with a sprained right foot. ...The Celtics haven't won more than two consecutive games this season.