Cavs (finally) get an easy win

CLEVELAND (AP) — J.J. Hickson scored a career-high 23, LeBron James added 11 assists and the Cleveland Cavaliers finally won comfortably after a string of nail-biters, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-95 on Wednesday night for their sixth straight victory.

Emerging as an interior option for Cleveland, Hickson went 8 of 10 from the field and made all 7 free throws in 25 minutes. The Cavs were able to rest their starters — James and Hickson sat out the entire fourth — after the club’s previous seven games were decided by a combined 21 points.

The Cavaliers were again without injured point guards Mo Williams and Delonte West, but it hardly mattered against the Timberwolves, who dropped to 3-21 outside Minnesota.

James added 12 points and six rebounds in 31 minutes.

Corey Brewer scored 22 and Kevin Love 20 for the Timberwolves.

Most of Hickson’s points came on dunks or layups as James found him slashing to the basket. With Hickson part of their offensive package, the Cavs can go down low to Shaquille O’Neal, Anderson Varejao or Zydrunas Ilgauskas and take pressure off James on the perimeter.

O’Neal added 13 points and four assists in just 19 minutes and Jamario Moon added 14 points.

The rare blowout gave the Cavs, who have won 21 of 25, a chance to relax and fool around more than they have at almost any point this season.

During the third quarter, Daniel Gibson drew a charging foul and as he was laying on the court, James, O’Neal and Anthony Parker rushed over to tend to their fallen teammate. But once they saw he was OK, the trio began tickling Gibson and Parker even pretended to revive him with chest compressions.

Moments later, James playfully knocked the microphone away from the arena’s p.a. announcer as he was promoting an upcoming event. During a timeout late in the fourth, James engaged in a dance-off with one of the arena’s ushers.

The Timberwolves played much better after being blown out by 33 and 27 points in their previous games, but lost their fifth in a row.

James recorded another of his signature chase-down blocks in the first quarter. The latest victim was Brewer, who appeared to be on his way to an easy breakaway bucket when James raced down the floor, caught the unsuspecting swingman from behind and swatted his shot out of bounds.