CLEVELAND — LeBron James played extremely well despite back spasms. Wally Szczerbiak, Daniel “Boobie” Gibson, Anderson Varejao and even Sasha Pavlovic played key roles off the bench.
That said, the Cavaliers’ 104-83 win over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena was all about defense.
The Nets were 1-of-20 from the field (.050) in the fourth quarter, when they missed their last 19 shots.
They were 2-of-28 over the last 16:14 (.071). They were 8-of-42 in the second half (.190). They were 25-of-75 in the game (.333).
“I just knew we were getting a lot of stops and pushing the ball up the floor,” said Szczerbiak, who had 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting. “The scoreboard kept going up in our favor. That’s all I care about.”
Down as many as 14 in the third period, the Cavaliers (43-35) went on a 22-3 run over a span of 9:35. They outscored the Nets (32-46) 27-9 in the fourth quarter, 38-9 over the last 14:11 and 51-16 over the final 18:44.
“It started defensively,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “When our defense picked up, everything else picked up after that.
“I didn’t know they were 1-of-20 (in the fourth quarter). We did a great job defensively. My insides are jumping.”
As he almost always does, James led the Cavaliers with 33 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and two blocks. He played 35 minutes after deciding to give it a go following the team’s morning shootaround.
“Did I look limited?” the 23-year-old asked rhetorically. “If I’m out on the court, I’m going to play hard. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to help us win. I didn’t feel 100 percent, but I felt I could do everything in my arsenal that needed to be done for us to win.”
As good as James was, guys like Szczerbiak, Gibson and Varejao were just as important.
Gibson, who had gone 5-of-24 from the field in his previous five games, not only had 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, he added five rebounds, five assists and three steals in what was far and away his best game since returning from a sprained ankle. The second-year guard was particularly effective in the fourth quarter, when he beat everyone to several long rebounds and quickly pushed the ball up the floor.
“That was fun,” Gibson said. “That’s the key word — fun. That’s what I’ve been waiting to try and bring, to try to get out there and smile and push the ball and get some open looks and have fun.”
Varejao, who picked up three fouls in four first-half minutes, had just two points but added nine rebounds and three blocks, including a tremendous swat of Stromile Swift. More important than any statistic, however, was his relentless, tenacious defense.
Even Pavlovic, who had not played a minute in the four previous games, contributed. After doing nothing in five first-half minutes, he provided four points, two key rebounds and an important steal as the Cavaliers completely took over the game.
It was Szczerbiak, Gibson, Varejao, Pavlovic and Joe Smith, in fact, who helped Cleveland extend an 11-0 run to end the third quarter to 22-3 at the start of the fourth.
“That’s what we’re capable of doing when we play aggressively and we don’t play passively and scared,” Szczerbiak said.
And to think the Cavaliers had lost two straight, five of their last seven and eight of their last 13.
 “When we defend and make shots, we’re hard to beat,” James said. “We played 10, 11 guys tonight and everybody played well. For the most part, everybody had a significant role in our win. It was the first glimpse that I’ve seen of our whole lineup. The whole unit really clicked at the same time.”

Tip-ins

The last team to shoot less than .050 from the field in a quarter was Atlanta on Feb. 20, 2007. The Hawks were 0-of-16 in the third period.
• New Jersey’s nine fourth-quarter points, 30 second-half points, 25 total field goals and .333 overall shooting were all season lows for a Cleveland opponent.
• If the Cavaliers lock up the No. 4 seed in the East in time, Brown would like to get James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace, who have all experienced recent back problems, some time off. There’s a chance one or more of them could sit out an entire game or two late in the season. “Any time I can give those guys time off, I’ve got to somehow, some way take that into consideration,” Brown said.
• For the third straight game, Wallace missed a dunk.
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

Cavaliers 104, Nets 83

NEW JERSEY (83): Krstic 2-8 4-4 8, Jefferson 4-17 4-4 15, Diop 2-6 2-2 6, Harris 2-8 2-2 8, Carter 5-12 8-10 19, M.Williams 4-10 0-0 9, Swift 2-7 0-0 4, Nachbar 4-6 4-4 14, Hassell 0-0 0-0 0, S.Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Ager 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-75 24-26 83.
CLEVELAND (104): James 11-21 10-13 33, Wallace 0-2 1-2 1, Ilgauskas 5-11 3-5 13, West 4-8 2-2 12, Brown 1-5 1-2 4, Szczerbiak 5-9 2-2 14, Gibson 4-9 3-3 12, Varejao 1-4 0-0 2, Smith 2-6 3-4 7, Pavlovic 2-4 0-0 4, Dw.Jones 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 36-80 25-33 104.
New Jersey    22    31    21    9    —    83
Cleveland    20    29    27    28    —    104
3-Point Goals—New Jersey 9-21 (Jefferson 3-6, Harris 2-2, Nachbar 2-4, Carter 1-2, M.Williams 1-6, Ager 0-1), Cleveland 7-18 (Szczerbiak 2-3, West 2-4, Brown 1-2, James 1-4, Gibson 1-5). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—New Jersey 47 (Diop 9), Cleveland 57 (Varejao 9). Assists—New Jersey 17 (Carter 6), Cleveland 17 (James 8). Total Fouls—New Jersey 24, Cleveland 22. Flagrant Foul—Diop. A—20,063 (20,562).

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