CLEVELAND, Ohio, (Reuters) – LeBron James helped Cleveland resist a late surge from the Utah Jazz by scoring the Cavaliers’ final eight points in a 107-103 victory on Saturday.
James, who finished with 21 points, a game-high nine assists and six rebounds, personally outscored the Jazz 8-4 in the final 52 seconds to spark Cleveland to its fourth consecutive victory.
“The way he’s closed these last couple games has been remarkable,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown told reporters. “I called him Picasso last time, I’ll call it Rembrandt tonight.”
Utah led briefly at 101-100 before James’ three-point play with 28 seconds remaining regained the lead for Cleveland.
“The game got a little close,” James said afterwards. “It was time for me to wake up a little bit and take the game over.”
Guard Mo Williams scored 21 points for the Cavaliers (7-3) while forward J.J. Hickson added a career-high 20 as six Cavaliers scored in double figures.
Brown was especially pleased with the way rookie Hickson played.
“He is filling his role and playing off others,” he said.
“He has to be guarded because of his athleticism and can drive the ball, shoot the ball and post-up. Our guys have confidence in him and he’s producing.”
Centre Shaquille O’Neal sat out the game because of what the Cavaliers called a strained shoulder.
Carlos Boozer led Utah (4-6) with 25 points and 12 rebounds, while guard Eric Maynor scored a career-best 24 points.
“They had a big lead on us, and we stayed with it,” Boozer said. “We fought together as a group of guys, we tried to come back and win this game. … It’s hard to sleep with this one because we thought we had a chance to win.”
Maynor started for Deron Williams, who was back in Utah so he could be with one of his daughters who recently had surgery.