Cavs top Bucks despite just eight points from LeBron

Jan 6, 2007, 5:10 GMT

Milwaukee, WI - Drew Gooden scored 31 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 95-86, despite a season-low eight points from LeBron James.

'We just picked our moments to get open and you have to trust that that your teammates will get the ball to you,' said Gooden. 'That's what happened.'

Larry Hughes scored 22 points for the Cavs, who won their third straight and their sixth of seven. Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 11 points, raked in eight boards, and blocked five shots for Cleveland.

Michael Redd scored 26 points for Milwaukee, which has lost three of four. Andrew Bogut scored 16 points and pulled down 10 boards, and Brian Skinner pulled down 10 boards as well to go with his eight points. Ruben Patterson scored 13 points for Milwaukee, which had its seven-game home winning streak snapped.

Cleveland ran away with the game late, scoring 12 straight points in the fourth quarter, and closing the game on a 21-4 run.

Milwaukee led 82-74 after a Skinner free throw with 6:41 left, but the Cavs rolled off 12 straight, and an Eric Snow jumper put Cleveland up 86-82 with just under three minutes left. A meaningless Redd dunk with 14 seconds remaining was the only field goal the Bucks could muster in the final seven minutes.

'The fourth quarter, our offense kind of ground to a halt,' said Bucks head coach Terry Stotts. 'We weren't pushing the ball up like we had been over the past few games.'

The Bucks led 74-68 entering the fourth quarter.

Redd went off in the first 12 minutes, scoring Milwaukee's last five points of the nip-and-tuck quarter. His layup with 44 seconds left put the Bucks up 28-23, but Daniel Gibson hit a three-pointer with 23 seconds left, and the Cavs only trailed 28-26 entering the second quarter.

The Bucks' guard cooled off in the second quarter, but his free throw tied the game at 43-43 with 3:09 left, and he followed that with a three to give the Bucks a 46-43 lead with 2:42 left in the first half.

Milwaukee led 51-48 at halftime.

Game Notes

Gooden's 31 points were a season-high, and his 16 boards tied a season high.

The Cavs have won five straight against the Bucks.

James' eight-point night represented only the eighth time in 270 career games that he was held to under 10 points.

© 2007 The Sports Network