LeBron carries Cavs

By Brian Windhorst

The Cleveland Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND

The Cavaliers do indeed have a lot of depth and an impressive list of former All-Stars. But when there’s trouble in a playoff game, it still is quite an advantage to have the Most Valuable Player on the roster.

LeBron James verified his ownership of that title Monday night, ratcheting up his game to help the oil-leaking Cavs put a 2-0 stranglehold on their series with the Chicago Bulls with a 112-102 victory.

The Bulls fixed everything they targeted following their Game 1 loss, including a prolific performance from controversial extrovert Joakim Noah, who silenced the booing fans with a fierce performance.

The Bulls rebounded better, they got second-chance points and they succeed in neutralizing the Cavs’ size advantage.

Those are all issues the Cavs will have to work on in the two days before Game 3, when the Bulls will have a measure of momentum going back home in their last-ditch effort to make it a series.

But none of those details matter when James has the ball in his hands and the look in his eye as he did on this night.

A string of Bulls had to take it in the gut, playing the proper defense on James and still watching him splash shot after shot over their outstretched arms.

James drilled four jumpers in the game’s final nine minutes and nearly a dozen for the game, shredding a Bulls’ strategy to give him space and take away his driving lanes.

Each had nearly perfect rotation, going into the basket with an elegance that defied their importance.

When it over, the Bulls were dazed after playing what should have been a winning effort as James had racked up 40 points with eight rebounds and eight assists.

He scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, calmly striding into the game as teammates flashed their trademark “call to the bullpen.”

James closed, repeatedly catching the ball on the wing and spinning and jumping in the same motion as shot after shot went in.

Beyond the grandeur of the performance, however, was the truth was the Cavs needed every single hoop. James made 16 of them in 23 tries.

That included going a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line for a wildly efficient night.

It helped the Cavs to 56 percent shooting as they basically just outscored the Bulls in a game that is counter to their preferred attack.

Chicago met their goal of being more physical and active, especially Noah. Shaking off the boos that cascaded down from the packed grandstands, Noah was easily the best big man in the game.

He went back to his trademark activity and it resulted in numerous offensive rebounds and putbacks.

He finished with a career-high 25 points with 13 rebounds, outplaying Shaquille O’Neal, Anderson Varejao and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

It was the central reason the Bulls overwhelmed the Cavs on the interior, scoring 58 points in the paint, which is the third-highest amount the Cavs have given up to any opponent this season and 30 more than the Bulls scored in Game 1.