With a flare for late-game heroics and having led the Cleveland Cavaliers to one of the best records in the Eastern Conference, LeBron James is a favorite to win the MVP award this season. He may already have the Portland Trail Blazers' vote.

James looks to continue his dominant play this month and remain perfect against the Trail Blazers in Cleveland when the teams meet Monday.

The Cavaliers (36-27) are coming off a 103-95 victory over Indiana on Saturday, their seventh in 10 games. Cleveland led by 14 points at halftime, and James was not about to let another lead slip away.

On Thursday in Chicago, the Cavs were up 51-47 at the break, but were outscored by 18 points in the third quarter en route to a 107-96 loss.

On Saturday, James scored 18 points in the third quarter as Cleveland extended its lead to 21. The 2008 All-Star game MVP finished with 38 points and 11 rebounds, and went 5-of-8 from 3-point range.

"The first five minutes in the third quarter is key, so I wanted to try to make sure we came out aggressive," James said. "I came out aggressive and started knocking down shots. Once I get into a zone like that, it's tough to try to stop me from what I want to do."

The 23-year-old superstar has been in that zone throughout his team's four March games. James is averaging 41.0 points - 10.1 better than his league-best scoring average - and has gone 14-of-34 (41.2 percent) from beyond the arc this month.

"He's been making them lately from all angles and all ranges,'' said forward Joe Smith, acquired by Cleveland just before the trade deadline. "I'm still getting used to it because you just don't see it. I just stand there and say, 'Wow.'''

Smith was not with the Cavs for James' last performance against Portland (33-30), but he almost certainly would have had a similar reaction.

In Cleveland's 84-83 win over the Trail Blazers on Jan. 30, James scored 17 points in the fourth quarter - two more than the entire Portland team - and his reverse layup with 0.9 seconds left gave the Cavs the win. He finished with 37 points and 14 rebounds.

In four career home games against Portland, James is averaging 29.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 7.0 assists, helping Cleveland win those contests by an average of 16.0 points. The Cavs have not lost to the Blazers at home since Feb. 2, 2003 - five months before they selected James with the top overall pick in the draft.

Cleveland has won its last five games at Quicken Loans Arena since a season-high three-game home losing streak. The Cavs are one win shy of matching their season-best home win streak, set from Dec. 25-Jan.23.

Portland has opened its five-game road trip with back-to-back victories after winning just one of its previous nine road games.

The Blazers defeated New York 120-114 in overtime Saturday, and has won two straight and four of six to bolster their faint playoff hopes in the loaded Western Conference. Portland is 6 1/2 games out of the final postseason spot.

"We don't feel like we're out of the playoffs yet,'' said LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds against the Knicks. "Also, I think we're trying to finish this season off good. We know if we don't make the playoffs we still want to finish strong.''

Brandon Roy scored eight of his 27 points in overtime Saturday, and is averaging 23.6 points in his last five games after missing the previous two with a right ankle sprain.

Roy finished with 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds against the Cavs earlier this season, while Aldridge had 16 points and nine boards in that contest.

The Blazers have not won three straight since a four-game run from Jan. 2-9.