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James breaks Bryant's record in Cavs win
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-19 12:53 EAST RUTHERFORD - The Cleveland Cavaliers won their eighth game in a row while LeBron James became the youngest player to score 11,000 career NBA points in a 106-82 win over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday.
A third-quarter surge put the Cavaliers in command as they improved to 9-2 and remained half a game behind the NBA champion Boston Celtics, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference. Cavs forward James scored 31 points to lead the visiting team and succeed Kobe Bryant as the youngest to reach the 11,000-point mark. Cleveland scored the first 12 points after the intermission for a 61-52 lead, which they increased to 14, sparked by Delonte West's 4-for-4 shooting from three-point range. "It's good that we have that killer mentality early in the season," James told reporters. "Delonte shot the lights out." Nets coach Lawrence Frank said his team had come out flat after halftime. "That third quarter started with very, very low energy," he said. "We were bad on both ends. That's a recipe for a big loss." New Jersey, who fell to 4-6, had the upper hand early in the contest. The Nets used a 7-0 burst to take a 25-18 lead in the first quarter before James led the Cavs back with a driving layup, a jumper and three free throws to help Cleveland cut New Jersey's advantage to 28-26. James had 15 points in the first quarter, becoming the youngest NBA player to reach 11,000 career points, at 23 years 323 days of age, more than a year younger than Lakers guard Bryant when he reached the milestone. West and point guard Mo Williams, who was 3-for-4 from beyond the three-point arc, both added 16 points for the Cavs. Devin Harris scored 23 points for the Nets, who had only 30 points in the second half and were 2-of-14 on three-pointers. Next up for the Cavaliers is a road game against the Pistons (7-3) in Detroit on Wednesday. "It's going to be a good test," James said. "For us and Detroit."
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