CLEVELAND — For one night, anyway, LeBron James was not the difference. His teammates were.
With James sitting on the bench for almost eight minutes at the end of the third period and beginning of the fourth, the Cavaliers turned a five-point lead into a 14-point margin and beat the Charlotte Bobcats 96-79 in their home opener Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena.
“When Bron is getting his rest, we’re still a competitive team, a great team,” said guard Daniel “Boobie” Gibson, who led the Cavaliers with 25 points off the bench. “That’s great to see.”
Up 19 and seemingly coasting, the Cavaliers had their typical third-quarter swoon and were promptly outscored 16-2 as Charlotte pulled within 60-55.
With 3:12 left in the quarter and his team struggling mightily, Cleveland coach Mike Brown removed James, who usually doesn’t come out until the closing moments of the period, if at all. James ended up sitting for almost eight minutes, during which time the Cavaliers outscored the Bobcats by nine points and built their lead to as many as 16.
“We came out flat and were getting outscored,” Brown said. “I felt we needed to make a change.”
With James sitting, point guard Mo Williams
(17 points, four rebounds, seven assists) got much more aggressive at both ends of the floor and the rest of the Cavaliers followed suit, outscoring the Bobcats 19-10 in their superstar’s absence.
“Mo Williams did a nice job of getting our team to believe we needed to get stops to win,” Brown said. “He brought our team together.”
James, who played just 30 minutes, finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and five turnovers, but he in no way carried the Cavaliers to their first victory of the season.
“We had a lot of guys contribute to the win,” the small forward said. “I got a lot of rest. Coach believes in our roster. I believe in our roster.”
Gibson had 20 points in 16 first-half minutes as the Cavaliers led by as many as 18 before settling for a 50-33 lead at intermission.
Gibson made an immediate impact by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers in the first period, the second of which turned into a four-pointer when he was fouled by fellow University of Texas product D.J. Augustin. The third-year pro capped a sensational 8-of-10 first half by making another three with 1.5 seconds left.
“That’s the thing about this team,” Gibson said. “We have so many weapons, it’s hard for teams to lock in on me.”
For all his sizzling shooting (10-of-14 from the field overall, 4-of-6 on 3-pointers), Gibson ended up getting razzed by his teammates after getting fouled on another 3-point attempt in the fourth period and missing all three free throws. He finished 1-of-5 at the line and fell one point shy of equaling his career scoring high.
“I heard so much tonight already,” Gibson said with a laugh. “That’s never happened to me, ever. It probably won’t ever happen again. I guess I have to take all the blows they give me.”
The Cavaliers held the Bobcats to .338 shooting from the field (25-of-74) and owned a 46-34 advantage on the boards, with Ben Wallace collecting 10 rebounds and blocking five shots in 24 minutes.
Even rookie J.J. Hickson, seeing his first regular-season action, got in on the fun. After being called for goal-tending, getting a shot blocked and missing a dunk, the 20-year-old threw down a monster slam in the second period, much to the delight of the Cleveland bench.
On the negative side, the Cavaliers got absolutely nothing from Wally Szczerbiak, who also struggled in the season opener against Boston, and almost nothing from Sasha Pavlovic.
Charlotte got a lot of nothing from a lot of guys, as starters Sean May, Emeka Okafor and Raymond Felton combined to go 3-of-22 from the field. Jason Richardson led the Bobcats with 24 points, with 15 coming in the third period.
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

Cavaliers 96, Bobcats 79

CHARLOTTE (79): G.Wallace 4-10 5-5 13, May 0-6 2-2 2, Okafor 2-6 3-4 7, Richardson 8-18 6-6 24, Felton 1-10 2-3 5, Augustin 3-8 6-6 12, Morrison 4-9 1-1 9, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Carroll 0-2 0-0 0, Mohammed 2-3 0-0 4, Dudley 1-1 1-4 3, Ajinca 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-74 26-31 79.
CLEVELAND (96): James 7-15 8-12 22, B.Wallace 1-2 0-0 2, Ilgauskas 4-9 3-4 11, West 3-8 1-2 9, M.Williams 7-14 2-2 17, Gibson 10-14 1-5 25, Szczerbiak 0-1 0-0 0, Varejao 1-2 0-0 2, Hickson 1-4 2-2 4, Pavlovic 0-1 2-2 2, Wright 1-2 0-0 2, Kinsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-72 19-29 96.
Charlotte    16    17    26    20    —    79
Cleveland    25    25    18    28    —    96
3-Point Goals—Charlotte 3-12 (Richardson 2-4, Felton 1-2, G.Wallace 0-1, Morrison 0-2, Augustin 0-3), Cleveland 7-22 (Gibson 4-6, West 2-6, M.Williams 1-6, Ilgauskas 0-1, Szczerbiak 0-1, James 0-2). Fouled Out—G.Wallace. Rebounds—Charlotte 44 (Okafor 12), Cleveland 57 (B.Wallace 10). Assists—Charlotte 16 (Felton 5), Cleveland 23 (James 9). Total Fouls—Charlotte 24, Cleveland 23. Technicals—Charlotte Coach Brown, B.Wallace. A—20,562 (20,562).

Cavs notes

Cavaliers small forward LeBron James enjoyed the free “Last Chance for Change” concert he
co-hosted with Jay-Z on Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
The event was a rally for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
“It was great,” James said Thursday prior to Cleveland’s home opener against Charlotte. “I hope it went well for everybody in attendance. It wasn’t just a concert to come watch Jay-Z. It was a big-picture thing.”
James, who will be voting for the first time on Tuesday, has endorsed Obama, whom he has met but doesn’t know on a personal level.
“I like his poise,” the
23-year-old said. “Every time you see him and he’s doing anything, whether he’s speaking in front of 20,000 people or college students, he seems so poised. I don’t know if I’m the only person who feels that way, but I get that vibe.”

For starters

Cavaliers coach Mike Brown started Delonte West at shooting guard again against the Bobcats, but cautioned that Sasha Pavlovic, Wally Szczerbiak or Daniel “Boobie” Gibson could get the nod “at any time.”
“That may happen a game from now or a week from now, I don’t know,” Brown said. “I like the flexibility at that spot.”

Rookie debut

First-round draft pick J.J. Hickson, who did not play due to coach’s decision in Cleveland’s season-opening loss in Boston, will get a number of opportunities to prove himself.
“I’m not going to play him long,” Brown said. “I do want to try to get him minutes early on to see if he can grow into a rotation player.”
Hickson sat in favor of 13-year veteran Lorenzen Wright against Boston, but Brown said his choice as Cleveland’s fourth big man could flip-flop on a nightly basis.
“Tonight it may be J.J.,” he said. “The next game it might be Lorenzen. I’m going to try both guys until I get comfortable.”
Hickson, who was briefly in Brown’s doghouse after missing a team bus for a shootaround a week ago, is not used to watching the action.
“One of my coaches told me he was a little dejected after the Boston game,” Brown said. “It was the first time he had a
DNP-CD in a long time.”

Second chances

The Cavaliers are aiming to lead the NBA in second-chance points for the third straight season. A year ago, Cleveland averaged 15.5 second-chance points a game, the highest in the league over the past three seasons. In 2006-07, the Cavaliers led with 15.1 a game. In its season opener in Boston, Cleveland had 16 second-chance points.
The Cavaliers have also led the league in offensive rebounds the past two seasons, averaging 13.3 in 2007-08 and 12.7 in 2006-07. They had eight against the Celtics.

Tip-ins

The Cavaliers have a 26-20 playoff record over the past three seasons. Only San Antonio and Detroit have more victories in that stretch.
• The Cavaliers entered Thursday with a 13-25 lifetime record in home openers.

NEXT UP

WHO: Cleveland at New Orleans
WHEN: Saturday, 8 p.m.
WHERE: New Orleans Arena
TV/RADIO: FSN Ohio; WTAM 1100-AM

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