James gets defensive, lifts Cavs by Hawks for 10th straight win
Lebron excels following first career ejection
ATLANTA — Lebron James’ unusual midgame defensive switch was the hot topic after he helped Cleveland extend its win streak.
James took command of a challenging defensive assignment and stuck around to see the end of the Cavaliers’ 10th straight victory, 121-114 over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.
James had 24 points and 12 assists and Kevin Love 25 points and 16 rebounds to help Cleveland extend the NBA’S longest active win streak. The double-double was James’ 14th in 22 games.
James had frequent exchanges with the officials but avoided serious confrontations following his first ejection in 1,082 career games Tuesday in a home victory over Miami.
Dennis Schroder, who led Atlanta with 27 points, blew past Cavaliers guard Jose Calderon to score on three straight layups to put Atlanta up 67-58 late in the first half.
James (6 feet 8 inches, 250 pounds) then took over primary defensive duties on Schroder (6-1, 172) to close the half and continued covering the quick guard in the second half.
“He was kicking our butts in the first half,” James said. “My teammates asked me to take the challenge. I wanted the challenge.”
Even though James also guarded Schroder at times in Atlanta’s 117-115 win at Cleveland on
Nov. 4, Schroder said the defensive switch still was a surprise.
Schroder was held to 10 points in the second half while James shadowed him.
The Cavaliers took the lead by outscoring the Hawks 36-23 in the third quarter. Love had 12 points while making three 3s in the period.
Cleveland stretched its lead to double figures for the first time at 90-79 on a 3-pointer by James. The Cavaliers led 99-90 entering the final period.
■ At Denver, Will Barton hit a driving layup with 3.2 seconds left and totaled a career-high 37 points for Denver, which lost center Nikola Jokic to an ankle sprain with 44 seconds left in the first half. Chicago lost its seventh straight.
■ At Boston, Kyrie Irving scored 36 points, his fifth game this season with more than 30, for Boston (19-4), which won for the ninth time in 11 games. Dario Saric had 18 points to lead Philadelphia, which was playing its third game in four nights.
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At Los Angeles, reserve Alec Burks scored a season-high 28 points and rookie Donovan Mitchell 24 for Utah, which went on a 21-4 run in the fourth quarter to overcome Los Angeles’
54.3 percent shooting.
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At Portland, Ore., Khris Middleton scored 26 points and Eric Bledsoe 25 for Milwaukee, which led by as many as 24 points in its fourth straight win over Portland.
Nuggets 111, Bulls 110 — Celtics 108, 76ers 97 — Jazz 126, Clippers 107 — Bucks 103, Trail Blazers 91—