CLEVELAND: The milestone pass was vintage LeBron James, one of those skip passes in traffic few others can even see developing, let alone complete the play.
But James’ brilliant bounce pass to Tristan Thompson on Saturday resulted in a dunk and James’ 7,000th career assist, making him the first frontcourt player to ever reach the lofty figure.
James was his brilliant self again in a 116-105 victory against the Charlotte Hornets. He scored a season-high 44 points, passed for 10 assists and grabbed nine rebounds. The 44 points by James matches the most he has scored in a regular-season game since returning to Cleveland and matched the 44 he scored in a Game 1 overtime loss against the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the Finals in 2015.
Every time the Hornets rallied, James was there to swat them away. His consecutive 3-pointers late in the third quarter, after the Hornets pulled within 75-72, kept the Cavaliers in control the rest of the night.
Kevin Love scored 22 points and Tristan Thompson had 13 points and 12 rebounds, but the night belonged to James as the Cavs shot a season-best 58 percent from the floor to win their fourth in a row. The Cavs’ two best shooting nights of the season both came this weekend. The 55 percent they shot Friday against the Miami Heat lasted just 24 hours.
“It’s difficult, or hopeless sometimes, to watch. That’s why their team is so well put together,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “You have three star-level players, two superstars really, and they’re surrounded by all guys who can shoot.”
The Cavs’ third star, Kyrie Irving, struggled through one of his toughest nights. Irving finished with 11 points, ending his streak of 12 consecutive games with at least 20 points. That was the longest streak of Irving’s career and the longest active streak in the NBA.
The Cavs made 13 more 3-pointers, offsetting their 18 turnovers. But Clifford said it begins with James.
“They have one of the great creators, passers probably in the history of our game and they sometimes surround him with four good 3-point shooters. It starts with him,” Clifford said. “If you make a mistake, he’s going to make you pay.”
The Cavs shot 68 percent in the first half and maintained a 17-point lead early in the third quarter before the Hornets began to rally. A short jumper by Nic Batum pulled the Hornets within three before James went back to work.
It was James’ first 40-point game during the regular season since Feb. 26, 2015, when he scored 42 in a home win against the Golden State Warriors, although he did it in consecutive victories during last season’s NBA Finals against the Warriors.
J.R. Smith returned from his two-game absence following a hyperextended left knee to score six points on 2-of-6 shooting (all 3-pointers). Iman Shumpert scored 16 points off the bench, maintaining his red-hot shooting from 3-point range. Shumpert made four more 3-pointers Saturday and remains among the league leaders in long-distance shooting.
Kemba Walker scored 24 points and Cody Zeller had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who had their own three-game winning streak snapped.
This was the first stop in a five-game road trip for Charlotte.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.