James scored 14 of his 31 points in the final quarter while the rest of the Cavaliers didn’t do much to help.
Damon Jones had 12 points on 5-for-13 shooting and Drew Gooden, with 10 points and 11 rebounds, was Cleveland’s only other scorer in double figures
The Cavs were down by five when Drew Gooden travelled with 1:46Â left in the fourth.Johnson scored on a driving layup with 1:25 left and that ended the Cavaliers’ momentum.
That would have decided the game and cut the lead to 3. “Which is why Drew often isn’t in the game in those circumstances” Windhorst said on his blog.
“When you’re down so many points sometimes, no matter how many plays you make, if the other team can make one play it’s going to kill you,” James said.
Larry Hughes had only five points on 2 for 11 shooting. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had seven points and wasn’t much help.
Anderson Varejao left the court with 9:16 left in the fourth quarter with a bruised left knee and a strained left Achilles’. He fell to the floor after a collision with Horford. No foul was called. Varejao limped off the court and was escorted to the Cleveland locker room and didn’t return.
News from local media:
Cleveland Cavaliers drop first at Atlanta since 2003 The Plain Dealer
LeBron can’t win by himself | Akron Beacon Journal
News from Atlanta:
You must be “Joshing†The Atlanta Journal-Constitution