Alston skips out early; Cavs pound Toronto

Alston was benched by coach Sam Mitchell in the first quarter and then left the arena during the fourth quarter Tuesday. He finished with five points but did not play after the first quarter because of what was termed an "undisclosed situation".

"Rafer is struggling with some basketball things and I wasn’t planning on playing him in the second half," said Toronto head coach Sam Mitchell. "And, that’s it. It’s just some things that he and I have to work out."

Mitchell suspended Alston for two games on January 30 for storming out of a practice. At that time, the coach indicated that trouble was brewing since an incident with Alston earlier in the season at Boston

Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who was named an All-Star reserve earlier in the day, scored 23 points while Jeff McInnis added 17 as Cleveland posted the 13-point win.

LeBron James collected 15 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, while Robert Traylor added 15 points and 13 boards for Cleveland, which shot a season-high 57 percent from the floor (45-of-78). Lucious Harris chipped in 11 for the Cavaliers, who have won two straight and improved to an Eastern Conference best 18-4 at home.

Jalen Rose netted 21 points for Toronto, which lost for the fifth time in seven games. Morris Peterson added 16 and Milt Palacio, who played in place of Alston for most of the game, added 14 in the loss.