James’ late surge leads Cleveland past Orlando

James sparked a late fourth-quarter run, scoring all but five points over the final 12 minutes for the Cavs, who ended a three-game slide. Zydrunas Ilgauskas ended with 22 points and 10 boards and Drew Gooden tallied 14 points and 12 boards for Cleveland, which won for the third time in seven games.

Dwight Howard had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Magic, who have dropped two straight. Grant Hill had 15 points for Orlando, which failed to stop James down the stretch.

Orlando entered the fourth quarter ahead 65-62 and later extended its advantage to 70-66 on a Keyon Dooling bucket in the early stages of the stanza.

However, with the game tied at 75-75 after Dwight Howard hit a pair of free throws, Cleveland went on a 9-2 run to take control. James scored all nine points for the Cavs, capping the surge with a three-pointer with 29.2 seconds left for an 84-77 cushion.

Orlando never got within one possession after that. Only a Hill three-pointer in the final seconds made the final score close.

James scored 13 of the final 14 points for Cleveland.

Dooling ended with 11 points for the Magic, who led 25-21 after one quarter and carried a 44-40 edge into halftime.

Game Notes

Trevor Ariza ended with 13 points for the Magic...Cleveland ended a two-game slide to the Magic, beating Orlando for the seventh time in nine meetings...Carlos Arroyo had 10 points for the Magic.