Cavaliers end skid with 99-84 victory

Drew Gooden had his best game as Cleveland topped Portland.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Drew Gooden had his best overall game of the season at a most opportune time.
Gooden had a season-high 23 points and 14 rebounds to help the Cleveland Cavaliers snap a three-game losing streak with a 99-84 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
"We really wanted this one," said Gooden. "The last three games were a step backwards."
James has 27
LeBron James had 27 points to lead Cleveland in scoring for the 59th time this season. He also had nine rebounds, a season-high six steals and five assists -- but was more satisfied that Cleveland did not throw away a large lead as it had in two recent losses.
"We wanted to be mentally focused," said James. "We didn't want to give Portland a chance to get back in it. We did a great job of closing it out."
Sebastian Telfair scored 24 points to lead Portland, which lost its ninth straight on the road. The Trail Blazers, last in the league in scoring, didn't even make their 88.4 average as they lost their third in a row and 17th of 20 overall.
Telfair and forward Zach Randolph, who scored 17 points, both expressed their frustrations over Portland's poor season.
"It's very hard to stay motivated," said Randolph. "When you are getting beat by 20 every night, it gets real frustrating. Hopefully, at the end of the season we can get better players in here and not go through this again."
Telfair was pleased with his performance, but unhappy it came in a reserve role.
"It's a huge lift for your confidence to go out and play well," he said. "It's the role I'm playing right now, but I'm not an off-the-bench spark player."
Sparks third quarter run
James made a 3-pointer with 6:29 left in the third quarter to finish off a 16-4 run that gave the Cavaliers a 69-47 lead. James had nine points in the quarter and Cleveland led by 17 after three.
He brought the sellout crowd to its feet in the fourth quarter with a soaring one-handed grab and slam of a pass from Damon Jones that made it 83-67 with 8:03 to play.
"Those are the kind of plays that take the life out of the other team," said Gooden.
During a timeout called by Portland, James glanced at the replay on the giant scoreboard and gave a satisfied smile as the crowd roared again.
The Cavaliers will play five of their next six at home, where they have a 23-10 record.
Holds fourth playoff spot
Cleveland currently holds the fourth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, but first-year coach Mike Brown is more concerned about his club just making the postseason for the first time since 1998.
"I don't even know the last time this team was there," Brown said before the game. "Everybody is talking about how we need to get a good seed and home-court advantage. I want that, too, but what I'm really concerned with is just getting there."
Afterwards, Brown praised the Cavaliers for a solid team effort and singled out Gooden.
"Drew's effort at both ends, especially pounding the glass, was big," Brown said. "He posted up extremely hard. His energy and toughness helped us win a game we had to get."