CLEVELAND - Cavaliers coach Mike Brown would love it if his team played every game with the intensity it displayed in the second half Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena.

After sleepwalking through the first half and falling behind by nine, Cleveland’s defensive effort improved dramatically in the second, paving the way for a 104-99 victory over the injury-plagued Portland Trail Blazers.

“Our will in the second half, led by LeBron James, that has to become habit for us,” an unusually emotional Brown said. “That has to be our identity for 48 minutes.

“It’s been there, it’s disappeared at times, it’s come back. That’s part of the (82-game) season, we understand that, but that has to become who we are.”

James finished with 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, but his biggest contribution was picking up his individual defensive intensity to start the third period, because his teammates quickly followed suit.

After allowing the man he was allegedly guarding, fifth-year pro and Seattle Prep product Martell Webster, to score 13 points in the first period, James came out in the third and applied aggressive on-the-ball pressure.

Suddenly, Portland was no longer getting everywhere it wanted to get on the court. Just as quickly, the game changed with a 19-5 Cleveland run, turning an 11-point deficit into a three-point Cavaliers advantage.

“Defensively, that’s where we make our mark at,” James said. “We weren’t playing particularly well in the first half, but we decided to turn up our intensity.”

James provided what should have been the exclamation point by coming from the weak side and viciously swatting a Brandon Roy shot into the stands with 24.5 seconds to play to preserve a five-point Cleveland lead.

“I didn’t see where the ball went,” James said. “It’s still rolling? That’s a good thing.”

The Cavaliers (16-7) seemed to have the game well in hand when Mo Williams hit a pair of free throws with 19.4 seconds left to make it a seven-point game, but LaMarcus Aldridge quickly answered with a three for Portland (14-10).

Jamario Moon then attempted a very short inbound pass to James, but James wasn’t looking. Roy came in, stole the ball and scored to make it a 101-99 game with 12.2 ticks on the clock.

Fortunately for the Cavaliers, they called timeout after this one and got the ball into the hands of Williams, a 92 percent free throw shooter who made two foul shots to preserve the victory.

The only negative for the Cavaliers, who halted a two-game losing streak, was a left eye contusion suffered by center Shaquille O’Neal, who finished with 14 points and 11 boards, and was particularly effective in the third quarter, when he had nine points to help Cleveland turn the game around.

With 3:51 to go in that period, O’Neal was hit in the eye by Joel Przybilla, forcing the Cavaliers to call timeout. O’Neal returned and made two free throws, but left the game soon after. He was taken to the Cleveland Clinic for an examination, but is expected to travel with the team today for a Sunday game in Oklahoma City.

In addition to their great defense in the second half, the Cavaliers got a tremendous performance from Anderson Varejao over the final two periods.

He finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, including 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting in the second half.

Varejao scored 12 key points in the final quarter.

“We know we’re not going to get that out of Andy every night,” James said. “What we know we’re going to get out of Andy is excellent hustle, rebounding and he’s going to make shots around the rim.”

Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

Cavs 104, Blazers 99

PORTLAND (99): Webster 4-13 2-2 13, Aldridge 8-13 5-5 22, Przybilla 1-3 0-0 2, Blake 0-4 0-0 0, Roy 9-25 3-3 23, Howard 6-7 3-4 15, Miller 8-13 2-2 20, Bayless 0-1 2-2 2, Cunningham 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 37-80 17-18 99.

CLEVELAND (104): James 14-24 4-6 33, Hickson 1-1 0-0 2, O’Neal 5-11 4-4 14, M.Williams 5-11 4-4 14, Parker 2-3 0-0 6, Varejao 10-17 2-3 22, Ilgauskas 3-4 0-0 6, West 2-6 1-2 5, Moon 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 43-79 15-19 104.

Portland         23            31            22            23            -           99
Cleveland       26            19           31           28           -           104

3-Point Goals-Portland 8-23 (Webster 3-9, Miller 2-3, Roy 2-7, Aldridge 1-1, Blake 0-3), Cleveland 3-12 (Parker 2-3, James 1-2, Moon 0-1, West 0-1, M.Williams 0-5). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Portland 36 (Przybilla 11), Cleveland 48 (O’Neal 11). Assists-Portland 22 (Blake 8), Cleveland 23 (M.Williams 10). Total Fouls-Portland 20, Cleveland 19. A-20,562 (20,562).

NEXT UP
• WHO: Cleveland at Oklahoma City
• WHEN: Sunday, 7 p.m.
• WHERE: Ford Center
• TV/RADIO: FSN Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

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