Cleveland avoids upset

The injury-plagued Kings gave the Cavaliers all they could handle.

CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James scored 24 points and Daniel Gibson hit a dagger-like 3-pointer with 12 seconds left as the Cleveland Cavaliers avoided embarrassment by beating the short-handed Sacramento Kings 97-93 on Friday night.

James, who scored 32 points in the second half when Cleveland beat Atlanta on Wednesday, this time deferred to his teammates in the fourth. He picked up four of his 10 assists when the Cavs opened the final period with an 18-2 run.

However, the Kings, who were missing injured starters Ron Artest, Kevin Martin and Mike Bibby, hung around and pulled within 94-93 on Beno Udrih’s drive and scoop with 47 seconds left.

James then missed a 3-pointer, but Anderson Varejao ran down the long rebound before Gibson drained his 3 from the right wing. The Cavaliers, so sluggish for three quarters, then survived a late flurry of shots by Sacramento.

James, who had five assists in the fourth, added eight rebounds in 45 minutes as Cavs coach Mike Brown was unable to give his superstar any rest against a Sacramento team that outplayed Cleveland most of the night.

Gibson had 13 points, 10 in the fourth, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 14 points and 15 rebounds for Cleveland.

John Salmons scored 22 points, Brad Miller 17 and Francisco Garcia 15 for the Kings.

Cleveland trailed 75-67 with 11:30 left before going on its 18-2 spurt, which included a pair of 3-pointers by Gibson. His second one made it 81-77, and James then fed Varejao for a layup and dunk as Cleveland opened an eight-point lead.

The Kings had won three straight on the road and they weren’t about to go away. A 3-pointer by Salmons got them within 90-89 before James, playing with a sore toe, made two free throws — his only points in the last 12 minutes — to make it a three-point game.

Cleveland got offensive rebounds from both Ilgauskas and Varejao in the final two minutes, hustle plays that were nonexistent for most of the previous 46 minutes.

The Kings are in some royal pain. They were again without leading scorer Martin (strained groin), Artest (elbow surgery) and Bibby, who hasn’t played since undergoing offseason surgery on his left thumb.

The trio sat at the far end of coach Reggie Theus’ bench dressed in dark sports coats.

Since last season, the Cavs and Kings have had on-and-off trade discussions involving Bibby, but haven’t been able to complete a deal.

Cleveland needs a point guard and Bibby, a 10-year-veteran, would fit nicely. The hangups seem to be what the Kings want in return as well as Bibby’s contract, which will pay him $28 million over the next two seasons.

“He’s a very good point guard,” James said of the 29-year-old Bibby. “He’s been very good in this league for numerous years. He hits big shots. He plays solid defense, and he’s been in situations — especially in the playoffs — where he had to make big plays.

“You never know how good somebody could be for a team until they get here.”

Bibby, who expects to be back on the floor in 10 days, hasn’t considered a change of city, uniform or conference just yet.

“I won’t worry about that until something happens,” he said. “I’m with the Kings now and until something happens — if it does — I’ll worry about it then.”

Brown was confident his club wouldn’t take the banged-up Kings lightly, but that’s exactly what happened as the Cavaliers had one of their worst opening quarters this season.

With the Cavs starting 3-of-15 from the field, Sacramento bolted to a 25-13 lead. But James, who was passive in the opening half against the Hawks on Wednesday, didn’t let the Kings get too far ahead.