Recap: Cleveland vs. Denver
Sports Network | November 13, 2008
Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Maurice Williams -- LeBron James' new sidekick this season -- scored a team-high 24 points with six assists, while James filled the stat sheet with 22 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, as Cleveland downed Denver, 110-99, at Quicken Loans Arena.
Daniel Gibson, mired in an early-season shooting slump, broke out with 15 points off the bench on 7-of-11 shooting. Ben Wallace chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas donated 10 points for the red-hot Cavaliers, who won their sixth straight game to start the season with a 7-2 record.
Chauncey Billups lost his first game as a Nugget but through no fault of his own. Billups, who came over in the trade that sent Allen Iverson to Detroit, scored a season-high 26 points -- 18 of them in the first half -- along with six assists. Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith each added 18 points, while Kenyon Martin and Nene each poured in 12 points for Denver, which saw its three-game win streak in the Billups' honeymoon phase come to an end.
Each team sizzled out of the opening tip, electrifying the scoreboard in the first few minutes. Cleveland hit its first six shots, doubling up Denver at 14-7 on Ilgauskas' bank shot. In all, the two teams made the first nine shots, with Martin's jumper with 8:40 to go marking the first missed field goal attempt.
Billups hit back-to-back treys moments later and his running lay-in gave Denver its first lead at 25-23. The Nuggets took a 36-33 edge into the second stanza and maintained that three-point edge, 61-58, after 24 minutes of action.
Cleveland started to wrestle control of the contest away from the Nuggets in the third stanza. A Delonte West trey put Cleveland in front, 68-67, but two Billups free throws and a Nene layup squared the contest at 76-76 with 4:32 left in the quarter.
The Cavaliers embarked on a 10-3 spurt to end the period. A Gibson three- pointer and a James jumper put Cleveland in front 88-81 entering the final 12 minutes.
Wally Szczerbiak's dunk pushed the edge to double digits at 94-83, and five straight points from Williams gave the Cavs a 103-91 lead with 5:55 to play.
Cleveland rolled to victory from there.
Martin was ejected in the fourth quarter by official Joey Crawford for an elbow to a Cavaliers player. Martin argued with Crawford and had to be escorted to the locker room...Cleveland made 57.3 percent of its shots, while Denver connected on only 47.9 percent of its attempts...The Nuggets stayed in the contest by making 21-of-24 free throws...Szczerbiak added 10 points in the win...Attendance was 20,562.
