LeBron flirts with triple-double as Cavs sprint by Pacers

By John Oehser, for NBA.com
Posted Friday January 29, 2010 11:00PM

INDIANAPOLIS (NBA.com Exclusive) -- Shaquille O'Neal's not an NBA All-Star this season.

But he played like one at times Friday, and against the out-manned, out-sized Indiana Pacers, that was more than enough for the team with the NBA's best record.

O'Neal, after being left off the NBA's Eastern Conference All-Star team, overpowered the much-too-small Pacers on Friday night, finishing with 22 points and eight rebounds, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 94-73 victory in front of sold out 18,165 at Conseco Fieldhouse.

That sort of game from O'Neal is not only key to the Cavaliers' season.

It's something they're starting to expect.

"Shaq is going to play like that," LeBron James said of O'Neal, who has scored 19 or more points in three of his last four games. "We know how good of a player he is. Tonight was another prime example once again.

"The fact that he's here, the fact that he's family -- we all look at each other like brothers -- that's a key to our success."

O'Neal (7-feet-1, 325 pounds), who had made the All-Star Game in 15 of 16 seasons, dominated inside on Friday, overpowering Pacers center Roy Hibbert (7-2, 278), forward/center Troy Murphy (6-11, 245) and anyone else who spent time in the interior.

"Shaq was big for us," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "We played through him for extended periods. He's capable of doing that every night. He's an All-Star.

"We kind of fed off him tonight."

Of course, the one Cavaliers player playing in the All-Star Game contributed, too.

James, who entered the game averaging 29.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 7.6 assists a game, shot just 6 of 18 from the field, missing all four of his 3-point field goals, but he finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, four blocked shots and 13 assists.

"It's all about the win for me," James said of finishing one rebound from a triple-double. "I think I've probably had more one-rebound-away or one assist-away triple-double than anybody in NBA history."

Of James, Brown added, "He played a solid basketball game. I was more impressed that he had five turnovers and none the rest of the game. That was impressive."

With O'Neal dominant inside and James distributing the ball, the Cavaliers took control early, taking a 36-18 first-quarter lead. O'Neal had seven points in the quarter, during which James had nine of his assists.

"That's what it's all about," James said. "On the road, you want a quick start. We were great at knocking down our shots and great at getting stops. Defensively, we were in tune with about everything we were doing on offense. Offensively, we shared the ball."

The Cavaliers stretched the lead to 23 twice in the second quarter, and although the Pacers pushed into the lead thereafter, they never got closer than 10 points.

"We've been up on them double digits and the lead has been gone just like that," Brown said, snapping his fingers. "It wasn't as easy as it felt."

The Pacers, after winning two of three games, have lost their last two games to the top teams in each conference, and weren't competitive in either game. They lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 118-96 at home on Wednesday.

"We played two championship contenders and they played like it against us," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said.

"The past two games have been a real learning curve for us because we played two very good basketball teams," Pacers guard A.J. Price said. "We have to regroup and reprogram ourselves and move forward. These were only two games of the season. We have many left."

As they have done much of the season, the Pacers continued to shuffle their lineup, moving Murphy to the bench and starting defensive stopper Dahntay Jones.

The lineup changes didn't help a team that has struggled shooting much of the season. Danny Granger shot 5 of 20 -- 0 of 6 from 3-point range -- and finished with a team-high 13 points, with Brandon Rush finishing with 12 points, Jones scoring 11 and Murphy and Price scoring 10 each.

The Pacers shot 33.7 percent from the field, including 6 of 25 from 3-point range.

"We couldn't get the ball in the basket when we needed to and didn't get the stops when we wanted to," Price said.

Added O'Brien, "We couldn't hit the broad side of a barn."

• Cavaliers: Powe, West, Williams
• Pacers: Diener, Foster, Hansbrough

• Cavaliers: --
• Pacers: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #15 Bennett Salvatore, #34 Marc Davis, #66 Haywoode Workman
• Attendance: 18165
• Duration: 2:15