MILWAUKEE — Forward Antawn Jamison’s Saturday night performance at the Bradley Center provided the perfect illustration of why the Cavaliers traded for him.

General manager Danny Ferry and coach Mike Brown were completely aware of what Jamison, long a thorn in their sides, can and will do on the court.

With LeBron James getting some rest against the Milwaukee Bucks, Jamison — along with Delonte West — took it upon himself to lift the offense onto his shoulders and tried to carry the Cavs to a victory, but eventually came up short.

His 30-point, 11-rebound performance was his best since arriving from the Washington Wizards. As he’s gotten more comfortable in his new role, the consistency has come. He’s averaging 17 points and eight rebounds as a Cavalier.

“I wanted to be aggressive and really attack and was able to do that going into the second quarter and a little bit into the third,” Jamison said. “I wanted to assert myself a little bit offensively and try to get a rhythm and take it from there.”

With the Cavs playing flat in the first quarter, Jamison asserted himself in the second, scoring 15 points to bring the Cavs back from a double-digit deficit.

Having a player such as Jamison, who can go out and score 30 in James’ absence, is something different for the Cavs. In the past, when James took a break or suffered an injury, the offense looked stagnant for the whole game.

Against the Bucks, there were instances when the Cavs played well enough together offensively to win. Jamison had some help, of course: West added 27 points. While most of the Cavs look to James to help get them shots, Jamison and West can create for themselves.

Brown hinted that James could see more bench time tonight against the San Antonio Spurs. Although the rest of the roster struggled Saturday, Jamison said he’s not worried.

“I think a team knows you have to step up,” he said.

Just rest?

Brown commented before the game Saturday that James could have played against the Bucks if needed.
But catching a glimpse of the superstar and league’s leading scorer, it was obvious that either his foot or ankle was bothering him.

With the Los Angeles Lakers tanking — they lost again Sunday to the Orlando Magic — the Cavs may have been given a lucky break in their bid for the NBA’s best record as James gets some time off. Because of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena, James could get up to a week of rest.

The Cavs don’t have to suit up again until Friday against the 76ers in Philadelphia.

Parker out

While James’ status is iffy, the Spurs took a huge hit Saturday night.

Veteran point guard Tony Parker went down against the Memphis Grizzlies and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a broken hand.

The Spurs hold the seventh seed in the Western Conference for the playoffs and losing Parker could put that in peril.

Tonight

• Who: Cleveland vs. San Antonio
• Time: 7 o’clock
• Where: Quicken Loans Arena
• TV/radio: FS Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

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