LeBron James finds it great wearing mask
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-04 11:13

Unhampered by a plastic mask he wore to protect his broken left cheek, LeBron James scored 26 points Monday night to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 94-83 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Cleveland Cavaliers's LeBron James wears a mask to protect his broken left cheek during a game against the Charlotte Bobcats', Monday, Jan. 3, 2005, in Charlotte, N.C. [AP]

James was given the mask Monday morning in Cleveland, then flew to Charlotte to rejoin his team. He said before the game he preferred not to wear the mask, which he needed after Houston centre Dikembe Mutombo elbowed him in the face last week.

If it bothered him, it didn't show. James shot 11-of-19 and added eight rebounds and six assists. Drew Gooden added 19 points, and Charlotte native Jeff McInnis scored 13 points despite being bothered all day by flu symptoms.

Kareem Rush scored 19 points to lead the Bobcats, who lost their sixth straight game.

Emeka Okafor had his streak of double-doubles snapped at 19 games after scoring 12 points with just five rebounds. Okafor started strong with 10 points and three rebounds in the first quarter, but was held in check the rest of the way.

James seemed tentative at the start, preferring to pass the ball instead of looking for a shot. When he finally attempted his first basket, it was in true LeBron fashion: He went high over the rim for an alley-oop dunk from Ira Newble with 6:03 to play in the first quarter.

James really got going in the second quarter, scoring 13 points. The burst was punctuated when he stole the ball from Jason Kapono near midcourt, then briefly lost it before scrambling after it and converting it into a right-handed windmill dunk.

Despite James' efforts, the Cavaliers couldn't pull away from Charlotte and led just 54-52 at halftime. That changed at the start of the second half when James scored two baskets in 25 seconds to force the Bobcats to take a quick timeout.

The first, a long jumper, had Charlotte coach Bernie Bickerstaff griping to his assistants about James' speed. The second was a fast-break dunk over most of the Bobcats.

The timeout didn't help, Cleveland scored three consecutive baskets, and Bickerstaff was clearly disgusted when he used another timeout following McInnis' putback of James' miss to make it 62-54.

But it wasn't Charlotte's defence that was the problem. It was the offense, or lack thereof.

Charlotte didn't score for almost seven minutes, missing 14 shots during the span. The drought lasted until Kapono's jumper with 4:44 to go in the third, and Cleveland led 66-56 by that time.

Although the Bobcats pulled within five, James and Gooden closed the third quarter with a pair of three-point plays to give Cleveland a 78-67 lead.

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