Cavs beat Jazz for seventh straight; Boozer booed

November 16, 2008 at 12:11a.m.

CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James scored 38 points, leading a second-half rally that gave the Cleveland Cavaliers their seventh straight victory, 105-93 over the short-handed Utah Jazz on Saturday night.

Mo Williams added 20 points for the Cavaliers, including a 3-pointer and a layup midway through the fourth quarter that pushed Cleveland’s lead to 95-84, its biggest since the first quarter.

The Cavaliers are 6-0 at home.

Carlos Boozer led Utah with 17 points. The Jazz, in the finale of a five-game Eastern trip, were without starters Deron Williams and Mehmet Okur, and top reserves Andrei Kirilenko and Matt Harpring.

Despite the absences for four key players, Utah shot 53 percent in the first half and built a 62-52 lead early in the third quarter. Cleveland tied the game at 69 later in the quarter on Delonte West’s 3-pointer.

James’ two free throws with 30 seconds left put Cleveland ahead 76-74, the Cavaliers’ first lead since they were up 25-23 with 10:59 left in the second period.

James scored 21 points in the second half and was 13-of-21 from the field. He had five rebounds and seven assists.

Williams (sprained left ankle), Kirilenko (dislocated right finger) and Harpring (rehabilitation from right ankle surgery) missed the game with injuries. Okur has missed the last four games after returning to his native Turkey to be with his father, who is ill.

When James went out of the game with 44 seconds left in the first quarter, the Cavaliers were up 23-14. When he re-entered the game with 7:12 left in the second period, Cleveland trailed 34-27.

Paul Millsap led Utah in the first half with 11 points and finished with 15. The Jazz made 20 of 38 shots in the first two quarters but were 13-of-34 in the second half.

Notebook

Boozer, who left Cleveland to sign with Utah as a free agent three years ago, was booed throughout the game.