Stitched-up James powers Cavs to win

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

LeBron James got stitches and then sliced Brooklyn open by himself.

James scored 23 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter — including 18 straight for Cleveland — and the Cavaliers won their sixth straight, 119-109 over the Nets on Wednesday night.

After he was accidentally “head-butted” by Brooklyn’s Tyler Zeller in the third quarter, James went to the locker room, where Cleveland’s medical staff closed the gash above his lip.

James punched back in the fourth.

“Just trying to make plays, be assertive, help my team win,” he said when asked what got into him. “Blessed to be able to make a couple down the stretch.”

He hardly missed, going 7 of 8 from the field in the final 12 minutes.

Kevin Love broke a 99-all tie on a free throw with 4:50 left and James took over, delivering a one-man show with an assortment of shots, power moves and clutch jumpers.

James began the dominating run with a pair of free throws and followed with a couple left-handed shots and then drained two 3-pointers — the last a step-back with 55 seconds left to give Cleveland a 118-107 lead.

James said it wasn’t his intent to take over. It just happened.

“You can’t force it,” said James, who missed a wide-open dunk in the first half. “You’ve got to let it come to you. It’s times when you wish you can do it and sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in. But I put a lot of work into my craft and I believe that every shot I take is going to go in.”

The sublime solo performance enabled the Cavs to avenge a 112-107 loss in Brooklyn last month, an upset that began a four-game slide for Cleveland and led to questions about whether the Eastern Conference champions were finished.

Love and Dwyane Wade added 18 points apiece for Cleveland, which moved four games over .500.