Cavs survive late Warriors rally for win in Golden State

By Frank Hughes, for NBA.com
Posted Tuesday January 12, 2010 2:16AM

OAKLAND (NBA.com exclusive) -- Though Oracle CEO and co-founder Larry Ellison has long been rumored to be the next owner of the Golden State Warriors, his first trip to the arena that bears his company's name was not to see the hometown team.

It was to witness LeBron James.

James did not disappoint.

Fresh off his 41-point performance in Portland, James came just shy of a triple-double, enough to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a surprisingly close 117-114 victory over Golden State before a sellout crowd at Oracle Arena.

James scored 15 of Cleveland's final 18 points, most of them in the post against Corey Maggette, to complete a 37-point, 11-assist, eight-rebound night on the third game of this West Coast trip.

"It's a point of the game that I worked on all summer and it's something I know I can go to when I need it," James said of posting up. "When you put a lot of work into it in the offseason, it is something you are comfortable with. This was a game where I knew I could go to it."

Cleveland held a comfortable lead for most of the game. But Golden State made it interesting toward the end, getting consecutive steals to trim the deficit to three.

Rookie Stephen Curry's 3-point heave came up a foot short at the buzzer, allowing the Cavaliers to win their second straight while snapping Golden State's two-game win streak. It was Cleveland's fourth straight win over Golden State.

Maggette had 32 points for Golden State and Monta Ellis scored 30. They exceeded 20 points together for the 13th time in 14 games.

But Ellis's off shooting night -- he was nine for 25 -- prevented Golden State from keeping pace with Cleveland, which possesses the best record in the East and the second best in the league.

The game was played before Ellison, the fourth-wealthiest person in the world whose company has the $30 million naming rights to the arena.

More than anything, Ellison's presence at the game, with his nephew, rekindled the long-simmering rumors that he is ultimately going to purchase the team from Warriors owner Chris Cohan.

Ellison did not speak with the media, but that did little to staunch the hope that he would rescue this long-suffering franchise from its self-imposed ineptitude.

That Ellison came to the arena for the first time to see James rather than the home team may speak volumes, though Ellison is clearly aware that his face anywhere near the franchise creates a tempest.

What Ellison witnessed was James at his best, every facet of his polished game on display. Perhaps more impressive than his offense was his defense, as two of his game-high four blocks breathtaking.

At one point, Ellis stole the ball from Cavaliers forward Anthony Parker. As Ellis was going in for a layup, James snuck in from behind, timed his leap perfectly and swatted the ball off the backboard just as Ellis tried to dump it in the cup.

It was just one miss in a frustrating night of shot-taking for Ellis, who could not weave his way through the Cavaliers' difficult interior defense and was not helped much by the officials.

At one point, his shot was blocked by O'Neal and Ellis hit the basket stanchion and earned a technical foul. Then he came down and took a quick shot and missed, then came down and got blocked again and just stood against the stanchion with his head on his chest, careful not to get another T but clearly upset that he was getting no calls.

"Tonight was a bad night for me," Ellis said, "but, hey, we'll just put this one behind us and move on."

Cleveland reserves Anderson Varejao and Zydrunas Ilgauskus scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, while Shaquille O'Neal had 13 points in 18 minutes.

O'Neal had one of his goofy moments in the third period, when he was going in for an uncontested dunk and was fouled from behind by rookie Stephen Curry.

Curry nearly bounced off the 300-pounder when he collided with him, and O'Neal threw the ball down, glared at Curry and then stared at the Warriors' bench.

"I slowed down to wait for him because I knew that was going to be on the highlights. That one was for you, Dell." O'Neal said, referencing Stephen's father, Dell Curry.

NOTE: The Warriors have yet another injury. On the same day they found out they would be without Anthony Randolph for at least two months, starting center Ronny Turiaf twisted his ankle in the first half. X-rays were negative, but Turiaf never returned.

• Cavaliers: Moon, Powe
• Warriors: Azubuike, Bell, Claxton, Wright

• Cavaliers: --
• Warriors: Ellis

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Officials: #32 Eddie F. Rush, #72 Kevin Cutler, #52 Pat Fraher
• Attendance: 19596
• Duration: 2:27