Irving, James help Cavs win 7th straight

Associated Press

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.

LeBron James came leaping in to try to stop Jodie Meeks as the Detroit guard drove to the basket during the final seconds of the third quarter.

After colliding with Meeks, James put his hands out to break his fall before sliding across the floor on his stomach.

“I was scared, because I broke my wrist on a fall like that in high school,” James said. “I was either going to land on my face or break the fall with my hands, but when I hit, both my arms went numb. I’m OK now — it was just something like a stinger — but I wasn’t sure at first.”

James barely missed any game time after that anxious moment, and he finished with 32 points to help the Cleveland Cavaliers to their seventh straight victory Tuesday night, 103-95 over the Pistons. Kyrie Irving matched his season high with 38 points.

The Cavs never trailed in the second half, but when James hit the deck and didn’t immediately get up, that was plenty to be concerned about.

“That is obviously a time of worry, which is the understatement of the year,” Cleveland coach David Blatt said. “In a situation like that, you are just hoping he is OK.”

James quickly came back in the game, and his two-handed breakaway dunk early in the fourth put Cleveland up 80-68.

The Cavs avenged a 23-point home loss to Detroit late last month. That game was part of a seven-game winning streak for the Pistons, but now Detroit is struggling to overcome the loss of Brandon Jennings, who ruptured his left Achilles tendon last weekend and will miss the rest of the season.

Irving was 6 of 10 from 3-point range. The rest of the Cavs went 3 of 24.

“That’s the luxury of playing with a great player like LeBron. When he’s on the floor, you know there are going to be things opened up for the rest of you,” Irving said.