EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - LeBron James put on a show for the New York metropolitan area highlighted by length-of-the court sprint to block a dunk by Devin Harris.
James had 31 points, eight rebounds and four assists in another dominating performance and the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled to their eighth straight win with a 106-82 decision over the New Jersey Nets last night.
The play that everyone will remember is the block. The 23-year-old James came from 20 feet behind to track down the Nets point guard, forcing him to rush a dunk that the high-flying James touched.
"I just never gave up on the play," James said. "That's how we all are. You never give up on plays no matter if a guy is in front of you or what."
Harris laughed when asked if he saw James coming at full throttle.
"He's 6-9 and 260," Harris said. "You try to quick dunk him if you can. If not, hey, he got a piece of it. He came back and he played it. If I had a good ankle, now that would be something to think about. You got to go for it. I had my shot at it and I missed it, you move on."
James and the Cavs are off to a 9-2 start.
"A-plus," he said of the second-half effort. "The thing we did was we stopped turning the ball over. We had only one turnover in the second half."
They also got big efforts from Mo Williams and Delonte West.
Williams had 8 of 16 points and five of his six assists in the final 24 minutes, while West scored 14 of his 16 points, hitting all four of his 3-pointers in the decisive third quarter when Cleveland broke the game open.
"Mo and Delonte did a great job coming into the third quarter and shooting lights out," said James, who was 9 of 20 from the field in posting his fourth 30-plus point game in five contests. "We took that momentum and just ran."
Harris, who was looking for his fourth straight 30-point game, had 23 points to lead New Jersey.
Vince Carter added 12, shooting 3-of-12 from the field as the Nets' two-game winning streak was snapped.
"It was a rough night and I wasn't hitting my shots," Carter said.
"His strength and his quickness, at his size, is pretty unheard of," Nets rookie forward Ryan Anderson said of James. "The things he can do is pretty amazing. He is so athletic, and he's 6-9. He is an incredibly talented guy."
While his free agency is still two years away, LeBron James won't hesitate to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers if another franchise offers the superstar a better chance to win multiple NBA titles.
"I think you do what is best for you and you do what is best for your career," James said last night when asked about his sense of loyalty to the Cavaliers before they played the Nets in New Jersey.
"I go out and I play hard and that's loyalty," James added. "It's hard because it's a business. [The] franchise is going to do what is best for the franchise, you know. When a player does what is best for the player, it always comes back on us. I am going to look bad. If a franchise decides to give up on a player, it's OK. So we have to do what is best for us."
James has two years left on a five-year contract extension he signed in 2006.
But with several teams, including New Jersey and the New York Knicks, attempting to clear out salary-cap space for a star-studded free agent class in 2010, there is speculation James will continue his career outside Cleveland.
First Published November 19, 2008, 11:00 a.m.
