Gooden leads Cavs over Memphis

Chucky Atkins led the Grizzlies with 17 points, and Mike Miller added 15 for Memphis. Cardinal scored 12 and Dahntay Jones tallied 11 points for Memphis.

Damon Jones scored 21 points for Cleveland, which has won six of its last seven games. LeBron James scored a quiet 15 points, and Zydrunas Illguaskas added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers.

The Grizzlies opened the fourth quarter on a 12-0 run, and outscored the Cavaliers 28-17 in the period, but were unable to get over the hump against the home team. Memphis twice cut the Cleveland lead to one in the game’s final minute, but was unable to hit the last shot, a three-point attempt by Cardinal that Jones hotly contested.

"At the end of the day no one is going to care if we gave up a big lead or not," said James. "It’s about winning ballgames, and we won the ballgame."

Cleveland controlled the game throughout, leading by as much as 21 points in the first half, but Memphis made it interesting after the break.

"I’m very proud of the effort in the 2nd half," said Grizzlies coach Mike Fratello.

An Atkins driving layup brought the Grizzlies within 70-61 with under three minutes left in the third quarter, but the Cavs quickly restored their double- digit lead with two Jones free throws that gave Cleveland an 80-66 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Gooden and the Cavaliers set the pace early, as the Cleveland forward scored 10 points during a 17-2 run in the first six-plus minutes of the first quarter. The Grizzlies, meanwhile, were ice-cold, scoring only six points in the game’s first 11 minutes.

Memphis broke through with a 13-5 run to bridge the first and second quarters, and a Swift free throw brought the Grizzlies to within 27-19 just under two minutes into the second period.

The Cavaliers came back with a 13-2 run in the last five minutes of the half that pushed their lead to 50-29 and the eventually took a healthy 54-35 lead into halftime.

Game Notes

Memphis rookie Kyle Lowry sustained an injury to his left wrist and did not play in the second half...Gooden’s 22 points were a season-high...The Grizzlies never led.