LeBron leads in All-star voting!

CLEVELAND - LeBron James got two pieces of good news on Thursday, one physical and one ceremonial.
The NBA officially announced James had become the first member of the Cavaliers to lead the league in All-Star voting, garnering more than 2.5 million votes (second most all-time), to edge injured favorite Yao Ming by about 1 million votes. James will make his third consecutive All-Star start and defend his game Most Valuable Player trophy on Feb. 18 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
He will be joined in the Eastern Conference starting lineup by Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade, Gilbert Arenas and Chris Bosh. The West starters will be Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Yao, although he won't be able to play.
It was a special triumph for James, whose game always has had All-Star billing, but unseating Yao and his huge Asian following shows his popularity has reached international levels.
"Just getting the opportunity to be the leading vote-getter is kind of unbelievable,'' James said. "That's something I've never dreamed of. I've always wanted to be an All-Star, but being the leading vote-getter over guys like Vince Carter, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade and Allen Iverson, you never think that's going to happen.''
On another front more important to the Cavs and their issues of late, James got a clear medical report on an issue with his right big toe. He injured the toe during the Cavs' West Coast trip and re-aggravated it in Wednesday's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. That prompted an X-ray on Thursday that caused him to miss the Cavs' brief practice at Quicken Loans Arena.
The exam showed no damage and it's expected James will start when the Cavs play the 76ers tonight in Philadelphia.
James has been fighting a number of nagging injuries of late. His right ankle was hurt when the Denver Nuggets' J.R. Smith landed on him last Friday. He has a sore muscle in his side after he landed awkwardly after getting a rebound Monday against the Orlando Magic. He also banged his neck and back Wednesday crashing into the stands.
Earlier this month, he wore a sleeve on his right arm for a week to help clear up bursitis in his elbow and a brace on his left knee to help relieve tendinitis.
There is no break in sight, however, and there won't be over the All-Star Weekend, either. James already has hinted he will take part in All-Star Saturday, likely in the skills challenge competition. James finished second to Wade in the event last year, a night before he became the youngest All-Star MVP in history. He scored 29 points and had six rebounds in the East's 122-120 victory in Houston's Toyota Center. James had 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists in his All-Star debut in 2005 in Denver.
"It's always special to be a part of All-Star Weekend,'' James said. "I think the No. 1 reason is because the fans vote you in. It's the one opportunity in the NBA season where the fans can bring all the best players to one venue.''

Cavs defeat Warriors

LeBron James scored 32 points and Larry Hughes had 15 as the Cleveland Cavaliers put an impressive finish on their seven-game road trip, rallying from a big halftime deficit for a 106-104 overtime victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 14 points and 11 rebounds as the Cavaliers snapped a three-game losing streak with an improbable late rally in regulation and a tenacious overtime, which ended with Stephen Jackson's 3-point attempt rattling in and out at the buzzer.
Cleveland spoiled the entertaining Golden State debuts of Jackson, Al Harrington and Sarunas Jasikevicius, who arrived in an eight-player trade with Indiana on Wednesday.
Jackson scored a season-high 29 points and Harrington had 14 points and 12 rebounds, but the Warriors' newcomers couldn't overcome the absence of guard Baron Davis, who served a one-game suspension for allegedly throwing a punch in Golden State's previous game.

Carmelo Anthony can hear about his suspension when he walks down the street, turns on the television and perhaps calls to order a pizza. LeBron James figures that's enough. James said he has talked about five times with the Nuggets forward since his 15-game penalty was handed down Dec. 18 for his role in a Dec. 16 brawl. Never once has the topic been about the suspension. "Everybody else is talking about the suspension," James said after practice Monday in preparation for the Cavaliers' game tonight in Seattle. "It doesn't make sense for me to harp on it and ask him about it. . . . It doesn't make sense. No reason to talk about that. So it's just basic conversation." There won't be any conversation between the two Friday night at the Pepsi Center. Though it was supposed to be the seventh meeting between the two since the 2003-04 season, Anthony will be serving the next-to-last game of the suspension. "I'm happy," James said. "I'm excited. I don't have to worry about 32 points per game against me. I'll wait until he comes to Cleveland (on March 25)." James said Anthony "knows he made a mistake." He said players in the brawl let "emotion get the best of them" and "they're paying the consequences." James also won't see Earl Boykins on Friday. Boykins, a Cleveland native who works out with James during the summer, was dealt by the Nuggets to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. "It's kind of surprising," James said. "As well as he was playing for the Nuggets, it's kind of like they used him as bait. To play as well as he did and then he got traded . . . He didn't know nothing about it. They just traded him. . . . You got to know this is business. No job is secure in this world."

Cavs vs Clippers

LeBron James scored 28 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 20, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 104-92 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.
The Cavaliers, making the third stop on their seven-game road trip and coming off their most lopsided loss of the season in Phoenix, won for the ninth time in their last 11 games. Eric Snow finished with 18 points for Cleveland, which leads the Eastern Conference with a 23-13 record.
The Clippers, coming off a six-game road trip, got 22 points from reserve forward Corey Maggette. Chris Kaman had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Elton Brand added 16 points and 10 boards.
James was 10-for-23 from the field, two nights after attempting a season-high 28 shots in a 109-90 loss at Phoenix. The two-time All-Star, playing to the celebrity-sprinkled sellout crowd of 20,027 throughout the game, brought many of them to their feet with an exaggerated slam dunk that trimmed the Clippers' lead to 44-42 with 2:55 left in the half.
Reserve forward Quinton Ross, one of the Clippers' best defensive players, was a non-factor after picking up three fouls in his first 3 1/2 minutes on the floor. His third foul preceded a pair of free throws by James that gave Cleveland a 30-20 lead with 9 1/2 minutes left in the second quarter.

Ross got his fourth foul trying to defend a 3-point shot from the left corner by Damon Jones, who converted all three free throws with 1.7 seconds left in the third quarter to increase Cleveland's lead to 79-69. Jones then helped fuel a 11-2 run with a pair of 3-pointers, the second one giving the Cavaliers a 90-73 cushion with 6:36 to play.
All three referees called technical fouls in the first half. Joe Forte got Cleveland coach Mike Brown for arguing about a foul that wasn't called. Tommy Nunez Jr. nailed Clippers center Chris Kaman for slamming the ball in frustration against the basket support after Ilgauskas dunked over him. James Capers then gave one to Maggette for hanging on the rim too long after a slam dunk.

King of Sacramento

LeBron James scored 34 points in the arena where he made his NBA debut, and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied from a big second-half deficit for their eighth victory in nine games, 108-98 over the stumbling Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.
James started slowly but scored 24 points in the second half as the Eastern Conference leaders erased a 17-point deficit with a 31-9 run in the third quarter of the opener on their seven-game West Coast road trip.
James then awed the hostile Sacramento crowd with three 3-pointers _ each longer than the last _ in four possessions early in the fourth to put the Cavs ahead to stay in their fifth straight win. Drew Gooden added 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 17 points and nine boards.
Mike Bibby scored 26 points and Brad Miller had 24 for the Kings, who followed up consecutive overtime losses to the Lakers and Portland with a dismal second-half effort to close a five-game homestand. Kevin Martin had 23 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for Sacramento, which was outscored 42-12 over a 13-minute span while getting outrebounded and outworked by the Cavaliers.
Cleveland beat the Kings 102-97 last season at Arco Arena, with James scoring 11 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter. James was an 18-year-old No. 1 draft pick when he made his NBA debut here on Oct. 29, 2003, scoring 25 points and playing splendidly in a loss.
Cleveland hadn't won back-to-back games in Sacramento since 1997-98.
Last season, the Cavaliers lost the first five games of a similarly epic Western road trip, but this season's team appears better prepared to handle the rigors of the road. The Cavs have won three straight road games for the first time in nearly a year, though they appeared to be in trouble in Sacramento until James heated up.
Bibby scored 20 points in the first half, and Miller's perimeter jumper was at its sharpest as the center made eight of his first nine shots, including two straight after halftime as Sacramento went up 61-44.
Ron Artest drew the defensive assignment against James, but got plenty of help from his teammates while limiting the All-Star to 10 points in the first half. But Cleveland scored the next 10 points after Sacramento went up by 17, and James hit back-to-back jumpers before Anderson Varejao's three-point play put Cleveland ahead 70-68 in the final minute of the third quarter.
James scored 13 points in about 4 minutes early in the fourth, but Sacramento got within 98-94 on Martin's 3-pointer with 1:14 to play. Gooden then completed a three-point play, and Artest bricked a 3-pointer to complete a 4-of-14 shooting night.
The Cavs even survived a nightmare performance by Larry Hughes, who scored 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting.


Notes: James caught up to Martin on a fast break and blocked his layup attempt from behind in the second quarter - though it appeared to be goaltending that wasn't called. ... Denver Broncos WR Javon Walker watched the game from courtside. ... The Kings play nine of their next 12 games on the road.

LeBron's full court shots

Remember that digitally enhanced commercial a few years ago with LeBron James hitting practically full-court shots? Wednesday night in Boston, he did it for real. His 83-foot shot at the end of the third quarter was the longest of his career and the third longest in NBA history, according to noted NBA statistical wizard Harvey Pollack. Although the NBA doesn't keep official records on such things, Pollack, the 76ers director of statistical information who publishes an annual NBA yearbook, said there were only two longer shots in NBA history. Charlotte's Baron Davis hit an 89-foot shot on Feb. 17, 2001 at Milwaukee, and Chicago's Norm Van Lier hit an 84-footer on Jan. 19, 1977 at San Antonio. James said Wednesday that he and Drew Gooden often try trick shots like that after practice. "Today was one of those days that I got one off and it went in," James said. The funny thing was, Boston coach Doc Rivers had yelled at his players at the end of the first quarter for not playing defense all the way to the end of the period. "There are, like, basketball gods," Rivers said, "and they said, I'm going to show you what you can do with one second.'