Cavaliers snap road streak

LeBron James fouled out in Cleveland’s four-point win at Charlotte.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LeBron James scored 29 points before fouling out for the only the third time in his career, but the Cleveland Cavaliers made several big plays down the stretch and held off the Charlotte Bobcats 118-114 Wednesday night to snap a six-game road skid.

James was called for his sixth foul when he reached in on Charlotte’s Jason Richardson at the top of his drive to the basket with Cleveland leading 104-101 with 3:56 left.

The crowd cheered as James went to the bench, then watched Wally Szczerbiak, Devin Brown and Zydrunas Ilgauskas step up.

Szczerbiak hit a jumper, Brown hit two free throws and Ilgauskas had two buckets as the Cavaliers took a 113-106 lead. Richardson hit two 3-pointers to get the Bobcats to 116-114, but Brown made two free throws with 20 seconds left to put it away.

Brown finished with 20 points, Anderson Varejao added 17 points and 12 rebounds and Ilgauskas had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland, which improved to 17-22 on the road.

Richardson had 31 points, Emeka Okafor matched a season high with 25 and Gerald Wallace scored 21 for the Bobcats, who lost their second straight game amid questions of coach Sam Vincent’s future.

With the Bobcats out of the playoff picture, part-owner Michael Jordan hasn’t said if Vincent will return next season. And on the same day Vincent made a passionate plea to keep his job, the Bobcats couldn’t take advantage of James’ absence.

Early on James wowed the crowd which included Davidson guard Stephen Curry. James so impressed with Curry’s torrid streak during the NCAA tournament he attended Davidson’s upset win over Wisconsin last week in Detroit, when Curry scored 33 points.

Curry returned the favor by watching James — and even wore a pair of James’ line of sneakers.

James made four straight free throws, a 3-pointer and driving layup in a 16-4 run to put Cleveland ahead 81-72 with 3:42 left in the third quarter, wiping out an early 12-point Charlotte lead.

But James picked up his fifth foul with 8:34 left when he smacked Wallace in the face trying to get position in the post. With James on the bench, the Bobcats tied it on Richardson’s jumper with 5:25 left.

Notes

Cavaliers F Ben Wallace sat out for the fourth time in five games due to recurring back spasms. Brown said he’s being cautious with Wallace, who has been cleared by the medical staff to play. “I have veto power,” Brown said.

... Bobcats rookie Jared Dudley started ahead of Nazr Mohammed, with Vincent looking for someone to counter the energetic Varejao. ... Devin Brown fell into the crowd when he was fouled early in the second quarter. He got up, only to trip over another row of chairs, drawing a standing ovation from his teammates on the bench.