LOS ANGELES: LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers made sure Shaquille O’Neal’s milestone night would not be spoiled.
James had 28 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds as the Cavs tightened up their defense down the stretch to trim the visiting Toronto Raptors with a hard-fought 108-100 victory on Tuesday night.
“They gave us some trouble in the first half, but we were able to hold them to 40 points in the second half,” James said. “It was a good performance for us in the second half.”
O’Neal scored 16, including a lay up in the first minute of the game to become the fifth player in NBA history to eclipse the 28,000 point mark for his career.
The future Hall of Famer joined legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,928), Michael Jordan (32,292) and Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) in the select circle.
“I’m happy being number five, there are some great names in front of me and behind me,” he said. “Only fallback for me is I missed 5,000 free throws. If I would have at least hit half of those then I’d be at 30,000 right now.”
O’Neal admits his goals have changed over the last decade.
“I’ve always been a player to only get happy about the big picture,” he said. “I stopped worrying about individual accolades in 1999, when I got my first MVP, and I really just started focusing on winning championships. Although this is a great milestone, it’s not really something I get too giddy about.”
Mo Williams had 22 points with a season-high 10 assists for Cleveland (32-11), which avenged an earlier loss north of the border to top Toronto for the 10th straight time at Quicken Loans Arena since 2004.
“We knew it was going to be tough, Toronto has been playing well, winning 10 of its last 13,” Williams said. “But there was a little bit of an incentive to beat them because we lost to them the last time.”
The Eastern Conference leaders warmed up for a Thursday night showdown against Kobe Bryant and the defending NBA Champion LA Lakers (32-9) in what could be a preview of the Finals.
“We went into their building on Christmas Day and were able to beat them pretty well. I think that’s in the back of their head,” James said. “It’s going to be a good challenge for us and a good challenge for them. I’m looking forward to it.”
Chris Bosh netted 21 points, but just five in the second half, while Italy’s Andrea Bargnani added 19 for Toronto (21-21) which went scoreless for nearly the final three minutes to lose for only the fourth time in the last 14 games.
“They did a better job of clamping down defensively,” Bosh said.
“We had a couple of mishaps down the stretch and they made us pay for it.”
After building a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Cavs started standing around. The Raptors went on an 11-4 run to draw within 95-94 on a lay-up by Italian-native Marco Belinelli with just over seven minutes remaining.
The Cavs responded with a 7-0 run, though. Williams took a pass from O’Neal and buried a wide-open three from the left corner at the 5:26 mark. James spotted Brazilian-native Anderson Varejao cutting inside for a lay-up. James then took a hand-off from O’Neal for a resounding two-handed dunk, opening up a 102-94 cushion with 4:26 left.
“I take pride in being the best passing big man in the history of the game, the playful O’Neal said. “I don’t like to force shots, so I kicked it to Mo in the corner. I know they were going to be conscience of Mo shooting the three the next time, so I just gave my main man LeBron a flip and he does what he does.”
O’Neal’s dunk put the Cavs up by six, but the Raptors countered, making it 104-100 at the 2:44 mark. With chances to pull closer, Spaniard Jose Calderon missed consecutive threes and Toronto committed costly turnovers.
At the other end, James sank four free throws in two trips to the line in the final 1:21 to cement the win.
Miami Heat 113, Indiana Pacers 83: Dwyane Wade scored 18 of his 32 points in the opening quarter, Michael Beasley had 21 and the Heat (21-19) routed the visiting Pacers for the second time this season.
Brandon Rush scored 17, while Troy Murphy had 11 with 12 boards for Indiana (14-27), which fell behind 36-19 after the opening quarter and never challenged the rest of the game.
