LeBron’s 51 lifts Cavs over Jazz

The Jazz have not fared much better over the past week, losing four of five games, bottoming out with Saturday’s setback against the Cavs.

After having injured his knee during a loss at Golden State on Friday, James was a game-time decision in Utah, where, at 21 years, 22 days, became the youngest player in NBA history to reach the 5,000-point milestone. James tallied his third highest all-time scoring total, going 19-of-35 from the floor and 9-of-11 from the free throw line while adding eight assists.

Donyell Marshall scored 24 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 10 for the Cavs.

Mehmet Okur posted 20 points and 13 rebounds and Andrei Kirilenko added 19 points to pace the Jazz, who began a three-game homestand with the loss.

James scored 15 points in the third quarter, during which the Cavs regained the lead for good at 57-56 on a hook shot by Ilgauskas at the 4:54 mark. James netted 17 in the fourth while the Cavs put the game away.

The Jazz shot out early and led 28-20 after the first quarter.

Matt Harpring hit a jumper 12 seconds into the second quarter to continue a 10-0 Utah run, which James quickly curtailed on a jumper of his own 16 seconds later. That shot sparked a 12-4 run for the Cavs, who eventually knotted the game at 32 on another James’ jumper. The Jazz regained control, however, and edged to a 47-45 halftime lead.

Cleveland improved to 7-12 on the road this season.

Game Notes

Utah, which will also host New Jersey and Seattle on the stand, is 9-10 as the host this season. The Jazz have won six of their last eight games at the Delta Center...This is the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs. On December 20th, Damon Jones scored all 12 of his points on 4-of-6 from beyond the arc during the game-breaking third quarter, as the Cavaliers crushed the Jazz 110-85 at Quicken Loans Arena...Cleveland has won four straight and six of the last seven meetings in this series.