LeBron James

As James referenced during his postgame interview on ESPN, last night wasn't the first time this season he has found motivation from the crowd. In Toronto on Jan. 6, it was actually the girlfriend and cousin of Raptors star Chris Bosh who good-naturedly got into it with James, who scored a franchise-record 24 in the fourth quarter of that Cleveland victory.

Of course, James hardly needs the additional motivation to dominate a game. He leads the NBA in scoring at 30.1 points per game and is averaging career-best marks of 7.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. Having turned 23 in late December, James has improved his midrange shooting this year and is making 48.1% of his shots overall, a slight improvement on his previous career high. The inevitable result: Heavy talk that this might be the year James wins his first MVP.

What made his performance in Portland all the more impressive was that James was playing through a sprained right ankle he suffered just before halftime. James told ESPN's Heather Cox after the game that he didn't want to see what the ankle would feel like this morning. Officially, he's considered questionable for tonight's game.

James has been even more dominant in the month of January, averaging 32.8 points and 9.2 boards. That's coincided with the Cavaliers playing their best basketball of the season after a slow start. Cleveland entered 2008 three games below .500 at 14-17, but has gone 11-2 in the month and won seven of the last eight games to go six games up on .500 and vault into fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

During January, the Cavaliers have picked up their play at both ends of the court. For the month, they have posted a 111.0 Offensive Rating, up from 104.0 through December, while slicing their Defensive Rating from 108.8 points allowed per 100 possessions to 104.1. While not as dramatic, the defensive improvement may be more meaningful. The offense's poor rating owes in part to the team's inability to score in the five games James missed with a sprained left index finger, and offenses tend to improve league-wide over the course of the season.

In 2006-07, when the Cavaliers put it together to advance to the NBA Finals, defense was the key. The same intensity on that end of the floor was lacking over the first two months of this season, when their Defensive Rating was in the middle of the pack. The team's 104.1 rating during January would rank third in the NBA over the course of the season, indicating that Cleveland has really focused in on defense. Part of the improvement should be credited to getting center Anderson Varejao back in the lineup after a holdout that lasted through mid-December, but the Cavaliers have kept it going the last game and a half despite losing Varejao to a severely sprained ankle.

Boston and Detroit have separated themselves as the class of the Eastern Conference, and the Cavaliers would potentially have to beat both teams without the benefit of home-court advantage to return to the NBA Finals. Still, with the defense in dominant form and the potential for James to take over, no one will want to face Cleveland in the postseason.

The Sonics, who lost in Cleveland earlier this month as part of a difficult stretch on the road, were limited in practice yesterday. Just seven players, including rehabbing center Robert Swift, were available to P.J. Carlesimo. The most serious injury appears to be Wally Szczerbiak's sprained right ankle, but Szczerbiak was able to return and play a key role in Tuesday's win over San Antonio after getting retaped. Forward Damien Wilkins also missed practice after he was unable to play against the Spurs because of the flu.

KEY MATCHUP
	Playoff hero Daniel Gibson has moved into a sixth man role after starting through mid-December. Gibson has actually averaged nearly as many minutes as a reserve, more than 30 a night, and is scoring 10.4 points per game off the bench. Gibson is the primary perimeter threat on a team not known for its shooting, hitting 97 three-pointers - more than a third of the team's total. Sonics guard Luke Ridnour has had the chance to finish several games recently at the point, including Tuesday's win. Ridnour did not shoot the ball well, but handed out five assists with nary a turnover in 24 minutes as the Sonics committed a season-low six as a team.

A Sonics team struggling to score since at the time found no answers Jan. 8 in Cleveland, falling 95-79 to the Cavaliers. The Sonics shot 40.5% from the field, turned the ball over 23 teams and put just two players in double-figures. They failed to reach 40 points for the fourth time this season. Still, the Sonics were within nine late in the third quarter thanks to solid defense of their own, but a 12-2 Cleveland run extinguished hopes for a comeback.

Kevin Durant and Szczerbiak provided the Sonics their only consistent scoring punch. Durant rallied from a slow start to score 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting, while Szczerbiak came off the bench for 15 points and eight boards. The Sonics held James in check, limiting him to 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting and just three assists, but the Cavaliers got strong production from their bench. Gibson scored 17 points, hitting five three-pointers, and Varejao posted 14 points and nine boards. Nick Collison pulled down 14 rebounds for the Sonics.

Kia Surprising Stat

INJURIES

Sonics - Forwards Wally Szczerbiak (right ankle) and Damien Wilkins (flu) are game-time decisions. Center Robert Swift (tendinitis and contusion, right knee) is out.

Cleveland - Guard Sasha Pavlovic (left midfoot sprain) and center Anderson Varejao (sprained left ankle) are out.

For more analysis before tonight's game, listen to the Sonics Pregame Show starting at 6:30 on KTTH 770 AM.