Written by Brian McPeek

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The Cavs earned a hard-fought win over the Toronto Raptors Friday night at ‘The Q’ and LeBron James became the Cavaliers all-time leading scorer in just 4 ½ seasons. A sell-out crowd took a break from watching college hoops to instead watch the NBA’s best player lead an impassioned second half effort and put some distance between the Cavs and the Raptors in the battle for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Intensity, defensive effort and a magical night for #23 all added up to a quality win over a quality team. Imagine that; two of those in a row.

The Cavs earned a hard-fought win over the Toronto Raptors Friday night at ‘The Q’ and LeBron James became the Cavaliers all-time leading scorer in just 4 ½ seasons. A sell-out crowd took a break from watching college hoops to instead watch the NBA’s best player lead an impassioned second half effort and put some distance between the Cavs and the Raptors in the battle for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

James finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists and at 3:52 of the 1^st quarter he scored on a patented drive to the bucket to eclipse Brad Daugherty on the Cavs all-time points list. The game was stopped while James was given the ball to commemorate the occasion and he walked the floor at Quicken Loans Arena to wave to the standing, screaming fans.

The game resumed and James, not happy with being just the most prolific scorer in Cavalier history, mistakenly tipped in an errant Raptor shot to score two points for Toronto. LBJ gave a sheepish smile as he ran back down the court and began the task of leading the Cavs to a big win.

James got plenty of help from his friends Friday evening. Damon Jones hit a couple of big 3-point shots, scored 10 points and dished out a game-high 7 assists. In fact, Jones shot and distributed the ball well enough to send starting PG Delonte West to the bench for the critical minutes of the fourth quarter.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 16 points and 10 boards and Devin Brown scored 14 points and collected 6 rebounds as well. Chris Bosh led the Raptors with 24 points but the Cavs interior defense made him attempt 18 shots to get to that number.

Solid

• The beauty of LBJ is that nothing he does on the court surprises but rather mesmerizes. On a night when he earned the franchise scoring record it’s easy to find platitudes. But James deserves every bit of praise he receives. Jim Brown’s on-field accomplishments preceded many, if not most of us. Some of us know Jim Brown more for his off-field exploits. That said LBJ is simply a force of nature and the best Cleveland professional athlete of our generation.

Against the Raptors James scored on a dizzying array of moves to the basket, on spectacular, high-flying dunks (the alley-oop from West in the first quarter was breathtaking as James kept rising higher to catch the pass before hammering down the dunk) and on a variety of long jump shots.

What truly sets James apart is that he does it and brings it nearly every single night against a variety of defenses created solely to stop him.

No one can be sure what awaits LeBron when his contract is up in a couple years. But we should all enjoy and appreciate each and every gift of a game that he provides while he’s here.

• Don’t look now but LBJ and the new-look Cavs are starting to piece it together on both ends of the court. In the past two ballgames the Cavs have held two playoff teams (Detroit and Toronto) to an average of 79 points on less than 40% shooting. The Cavs front-line defenders are doing a good job of contesting shots and helping where it’s needed. Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace provide an imposing post presence given their size and length in the paint. West, Brown, James and Sasha Pavlovic, when the effort is there, can hound opposing guards. And whatever Mike Brown and his staff have said regarding the defensive effort and approach before the last two games should be bottled and saved come May.

• Just as important as the defense, if not more so, is that this roster of players is starting to get used to each other and to mix well together. Joe Smith scored only 6 points in his 19 minutes Friday night, but his 18-footer on the baseline in the final minute was the shot through the Raptors’ heart. His reaction afterward was even better. Smith nearly duck-walked back down the court while pumping his fists and the players on the bench, including starters West and Pavlovic, exploded from their seats and came onto the court to receive and greet Smith and the Cavs. It was real, it was heartfelt and it was important to see these guys playing together for the name on the front of the jersey and not the one on the back.

Viscous

• The third quarter effort the Cavs put forth was disappointing. Mostly in that there was none. The Cavs gave up their 3-point halftime lead plus 4 more points to Toronto and looked like they were ready to watch some NCAA games themselves. James again bailed the Cavs out and kept them within striking distance of a win by scoring 12 of his points in the third quarter. They turned up the intensity in the fourth quarter at LBJ’s urging and had enough to get the job done but the Cavs aren’t yet to the point where they can take long periods of time off.
  

• Another night, another key Cavalier leaving due to injury. Wallace left the game and did not play in the fourth quarter due to a recurrence of the back spasms that have plagued him since he arrived (if not before). There’s nothing that anyone can do about the injuries that have dogged Cleveland since seemingly the first month of the season, but at some point you have to wonder what the cumulative effect on the team will be come playoff time.

Finally

Right back at it tomorrow night for Cleveland. The Cavs travel to Milwaukee for an 8:30pm tip with Michael Redd and the Bucks. Milwaukee is 6 games out of the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot but they are essentially playing out the string. Still, the Cavs lost on their previous trip to The Bradley Center. Getting ahead early and stepping on the Bucks’ throats would be a nice way to close out the last four days.