James, Cavaliers Tough It Out
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CLEVELAND, Jan. 26 (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers got a scare of epic proportions before posting a win of significant importance.

LeBron James shook off a left ankle injury early in the fourth quarter to hit a pivotal layup with 90 seconds to go as the Cleveland Cavaliers posted a 114-111 triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies.

The second-year phenom was in considerable pain and appeared to have suffered a serious injury when he came down on the foot of defender Dahntay Jones. James, who appeared to roll his ankle, was carried to the bench by teammates and limped to the locker room with 9:23 left.

James emerged from the locker room to a roar from the crowd at Gund Arena and returned to the contest with 4:53 remaining. He had a basket just under a minute later and pushed the lead to 110-104 on a driving layup with 1:30 left.

"I was going to give as much energy as I could," James said. "It came down to being with my teammates. As the captain of this ship, I can't show fear."

Already playing with a plastic face mask to project his fractured cheekbone, James narrowly missed another triple-double with 27 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds.

"I thought it was more severe than it was," Cleveland coach Paul Silas said of the injury. "You kind of see your life flash before your eyes. Other than that, everything was cool."

"The defender came up under me (on the jump shot) and I had nowhere to land," James said.

Silas was able to joke about the injury after the fact.

"I saw a whole bunch of losses coming up," he said.

Former Grizzlie Drew Gooden had 27 points and 11 rebounds and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 22 and nine for Cleveland (25-16). Gooden scored 11 points in the final quarter as the Cavaliers improved to 15-4 at home this season and erased any memories of a blown 17-point lead in a home loss to Washington on Monday.

"We shouldn't lose two games in a row at home," Gooden said.

"Drew was terrific tonight, not only scoring, but rebounding and defending," Silas said. "That happens a lot when you play against your old team."

Since a four-game winning streak had put them a season-high nine games over .500, Cleveland was 3-4.

James was not the only banged-up Cavalier as starting guard Jeff McInnis, battling a mid-foot sprain, admitted to playing at "80 percent." Backcourt mate Ira Newble played just 10 minutes before leaving with a strained left Achilles tendon.

Mike Miller scored a season-high 28 points for Memphis (24-20).

"We knew they would be searching a little bit because (James) is their go-to-guy down the stretch," Miller said. "They did a good job of executing and (James) came back in and made some plays."

"We hung in there until the end," Memphis coach Mike Fratello said. "We just couldn't get a big rebound when we needed it to give ourselves a chance."

Memphis got 63 points from its reserves, including 14 from Brian Cardinal.







gotta give it to him, man....that statement he said as the caption of the ship, i can't show fear....i got MAJOR respect for that...vince carter would of jumped that ship and swam to the shore....LOL

i'll give him a few years....there's a ring waiting for him

Mad props 2 LeBron. He ALWAYS close 2 a triple double

it's not like the nigga came back and hooped wit a cast on his leg or sumthin. niggaz always get a lil boo boo and come back to play. put lebron's dick back in his shorts already.

but mad props on the triple doubles though, that shit is hard to get

noone's on anyone dick...

you just gotta give props where props is due..i mean it's NOT the fact he came back ON the court, but the REASON as to WHY he came back on...

that's signs of a true leader, and of a man wayyy mature for his age...it's only his 2nd year in the league where there's most players that came in from college, been in the league for years, and STILL act immature and whiney and all of that...

lebron is still just a kid...and you gotta respect him for how he's been handling himself...

another sublimal anti-kobe thread

Thats why the Lakers lost...2 DA CLIPPERS!

Kobe > Lebron (if both were 20 yrs old at the same time....AND/OR....now)

^^^ummm not-so check the stats..as a matter of fact, kobe was STILL riding the bench during his 2nd year in the league!!!

the numbers kobe put up while he DID start starting are still lower to the stats lebron is getting as a whole.... and that's when he was OVER 21

oh and let me add this before whatever argument u have gluv



i'll admit for a 20 year old Lebron did a lot of maturing is 2nd year....BUT.....he was given the all right cards....a strict/nurturing coach and a perfect set up for him to ABSOLUTELY lead a team. Look at kobe...can u really blame ALL the shit on number 8. During his first two years...he was under CRAPPY coach management (Dell Harris) and he was under Shaq's footstool. Kobe had no room whatsever to do the certain things as a rookie that lebron FORTUNATELY did.


and tell me this...if lebron went with a team that ALREADY had a superstar...u think Lebron would EVER realize his potentional in a SHORT AMOUNT of time?...answer me that.

i originally put stats up there, but you made a valid point to i disregarded it.....


very true...lebron's set-up WAS better than kobe's, but you have to admit that kobe during his 1st THREE years of the season was not at the level lebron is now...kobe today, i'll agree with mop lebron up and down the court, but the bryant of 96-99 was more hype than real....

not to hate on him, but it's the truth, and i WAS a lakers fan...and always rooted for them...but that was the case..the only reason kobe even GOT a starting position was because someone else got injuryed...and ended up keeping the starting job since

now i'll agree with u on that...each case scenario is different from the other..and kobe had that quality of being a leader, but never had the chance up until now...

but i honestly can't see kobe being BETTER than james if both were at their 2nd seasons...just for the fact you made...lebron was nutured and trained better than kobe was...dale harris didn't really give kobe a true opportunity to shine, and whenever kobe DID get on the court...his mistakes were glaringly out there...the case of him being a ball-hogg...not being a team player and so on....and lebron on the 1ST NIGHT of his NBA career destroyed any idea that crossed anyone's minds that he was all hype....

kobe had to work his the hard way....but lebron is the better man if they were both on their 2nd seasons...just based on the fact u just said...because of the different scenarios

oh yea...to answer your question

one name: tim duncan...so it's possible