Cavs hold off Hornets

Trailing 81-70, the Hornets went on a 13-2 spurt capped by David West’s jumper to square the contest at 83-83 with 4:13 on the clock.

Enter Hughes, who buried a trey followed by a James’ finger roll for an 88-83 advantage. After a Tyson Chandler dunk, Daniel Gibson knocked down a three to build an insurmountable 91-85 lead.

Hughes scored just 11 points on 5-of-16 shooting, but he dished out five assists and grabbed eight boards. Gibson had 12 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas donated 11 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, who snapped a brief two-game skid.

West scored 25 points with 10 rebounds and six assists, Desmond Mason complied 16 points and Chandler notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards in defeat, the Hornets’ first in three games.

Cleveland appeared to be in command of the contest, building a 77-65 edge after three stanzas on Anderson Varejao’s jumper as time expired.

The cushion didn’t last long.

Bobby Jackson scored the first five points and West the next four before James’ jumper with 5:37 left. Then, Jannero Pargo knocked down a jumper and West’s bucket brought the Hornets even.

James had 13 points, five rebounds and six assists and Ilgauskas added 11 in the first half as Cleveland led 52-43. West led all scorers through 24 minutes with 15 points.

Game Notes

The Hornets made just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc...West and Chandler led a 44-35 edge on the backboards...The game featured eight ties and five lead changes...The clubs split two meetings this season...Attendance was 19,619.