James scores 34 in Cavs’ 98-88 win over Pistons
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — LeBron James soared through the air and did a double-pump dunk that included a shot to his head that pushed his headband off his forehead.
“And one!” James shouted at the officials, pleading for a foul.
No, James doesn’t always get superstar calls.
James did get what he wanted Wednesday night, though, scoring 12 of his 34 points in the first quarter and leading the Cavs to a 98-88 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Isn’t getting hit in the head a foul?
“I guess not,” James said.
James’ strong start gave the Cavs a nine-point lead to start the second quarter. Reserve Daniel Gibson and Mo Williams combined to score 18 points to put them ahead by 18 at halftime.
“Daniel and Mo did an incredible job of hitting shots in the second quarter,” James said.
When the Pistons pulled within 10 midway through the fourth quarter, James responded with a 3-pointer and his highlight-worthy dunk that included contact from Detroit’s Austin Daye.
Detroit cut its deficit to eight points with 4:15 left and James made plays at both ends of the court to give the Cavs another double-digit lead.
The Pistons, though, would not go away easily.
Ben Wallace made a free throw with 1:13 to go to make it 93-88.
“It’s good to get tested once in a while,” James said.
James made two free throws and Detroit’s Charlie Villanueva stepped out of bounds on the ensuing possessions, sealing Cleveland’s third straight win.
“LeBron closes games for us by attacking the basket, and that’s what he did,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said. “They were physical with him and he didn’t get all the calls, but he kept attacking.”
Detroit’s first-year coach John Kuester was asked before the game if it helped him prepare his team to face James because he used to be one of his assistant coaches in Cleveland.
“The only thing that is good about knowing him is being able to say ’Hi,’ to him,” Kuester said. “I think he would drive hard on his mom. It doesn’t matter who he’s playing against, he’s that type of competitor.”
Rodney Stuckey scored 25 and Villanueva had 19 points for the banged-up Pistons. Ben Gordon sprained his left ankle in the first half and did not play the rest of the game.
Gordon said, “I have no idea,” when asked about the severity of the injury.
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