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NBA Scores: LeBron James Leads Cavaliers Past Nets; Cleveland Takes 3-1 Lead Back Home
LeBron James scored 30 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and handed out 7 assists, Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 13 points and 11 boards while Larry Hughes finished with 19 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers held on in the closing minutes to beat the New Jersey Nets 87-85 and take a 3-1 advantage in their Eastern Conference playoff series.
After Vince Carter hit a pair of free-throws with six minutes remaining in the game the Nets had a 78-75 lead but two free-throws and a layup from Sasha Pavlovic a minute later gave the Cavs a one point advantage. Drew Gooden bumped the lead to three with two from the foul-line as well.
New Jersey had their opportunities but to tie the game and even take the lead but they failed to hit key free-throws. Carter hit one of two from the line twice in the space of two minutes while Richard Jefferson did the same. The Nets only hit three field goals in the final quarter, their final bucket coming from Mikki Moore with just over seven minutes left on the clock.
When Jefferson hit his second of two free-throw attempts the Nets had pulled to within one with 3:31 on the clock but Cleveland used a 5-0 spurt to go up six with 2:05 left in the game.
With 11 seconds left in the game Vince Carter dropped a pair of free-throws to make it a one point game but LeBron James was able to hit one of two from the line for a two point lead and New Jersey failed to get a shot off at the end as Carter turned the ball over with one second left.
Carter, Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson combined to shoot just 11-48 from the field in the game.
The series now shifts back to Cleveland on Wednesday where the Cavs will try to close out the Nets in game five of their best of seven series.
