Playoff Perfect: LeBron, Cavs down Nets

Sasha Pavlovic added 17 points for Cleveland, which won its 10th straight game going back to the regular season. Drew Gooden was a force inside with 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavs, who won Game 1, 81-77, and again used a big rebounding advantage to win on Tuesday. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 13 points and nine boards for the Cavaliers, who had a 49-32 advantage in rebounding.

That included a 19-3 margin on the offensive glass.

"That’s been one of our fortes the entire year," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "Our guys have come up with some big rebounds for us to get us another possession and get us points like tonight."

Vince Carter had 26 points for the Nets, who lost despite shooting 52.3 percent from the floor. Jason Kidd ended with 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, but also had eight of New Jersey’s 17 turnovers. Richard Jefferson had 22 points and eight boards in a losing cause.

"When a team gets 20 more shots and you shoot 52 percent that’s a big deal," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "We can’t just not give away all these extra possessions."

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday at Continental Airlines Arena.

The Nets led 81-78 early in the fourth, but James and Larry Hughes hit consecutive threes. Carter then had the ball stolen by Pavlovic and committed a foul. Pavlovic made 1-of-2 at the line for an 85-81 lead.

The Nets pulled within 87-85 and had a chance to tie, but Carter missed a pair of jumpers. James then drove in for a layup with 5:11 left.

"From that point on I think we just started to press on both ends," Kidd said. "That played a big part to us falling apart at the end."

After Mikki Moore missed a shot for the Nets, James zipped a pass into the lane for Gooden, who jammed with 4:25 left for a 91-85 cushion. The Nets didn’t get closer than four the rest of the way.

A Carter jumper had the visitors within 93-89 with 2:40 remaining, but Carter missed another shot to try and get his team within two. Hughes made one foul shot and James nailed a jumper over Moore for a 96-89 margin with 1:19 left.

Hughes and Ilgauskas each hit two foul shots and James put the final touches on the win with a jumper for a 102-89 lead.

Hughes ended with 12 points and seven rebounds for the Cavaliers, who shot 44.7 percent and missed 13 of their 33 foul shots, but made up for those shortcomings with hustle and second opportunities.

"We really believe in our defensive schemes," James said. "Guys know that if one guys beats his man he’s going to have help. We believe in that. It makes the offense so much easier."

Jefferson’s layup capped seven consecutive points for the Nets, who took a 14-9 lead early on. New Jersey was on top 28-24 after one quarter behind 61 percent shooting.

Bostjan Nachbar started the second quarter with a three-pointer, but the Cavs responded with an 8-0 run, grabbing a 32-31 edge on an Anderson Varejao jam. It remained tight throughout the remainder of the period, with Cleveland holding a 48-45 lead at the half. The Cavs limited Carter to 2-for-11 shooting in the opening 24 minutes.

Neither team led by more than four in the third. Kidd nailed consecutive threes for a 53-50 New Jersey edge, but the Nets gave up the final four points of the period. James hit a short shot and then nailed two free throws for a 74-73 Cleveland advantage going into the fourth.

Game Notes

James, who made half of his 24 shots from the field, has 19 straight 20-plus point playoff games to start his career...Cleveland, which swept Washington in the first round, has won six straight playoff games for the first time in history...In seven-game series in NBA history, teams that have gone up 2-0 go on to win the series 94 percent of the time...Moore had 15 points...Carter ended 10-of-26 from the field...The Cavs were 6-of-23 from three-point range, compared to 8-of-14 for the Nets...James’ 12 assists are a playoff career- best.