CHARLOTTE, N.C. - LeBron James is expected to impress crowds, not opponents.
James stunned the Bobcats with three explosive dunks, including a windmill that broke the game open late in the second quarter to lead the Cavaliers to a 106-89 victory Thursday night over Charlotte.
"What this game reminded me of was when Dr. J (Julius Erving) came into the league. He'd make a couple of plays and everyone would stand around and watch," Charlotte coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. "It seemed to me everybody came to watch LeBron, and that was inclusive of us."
James had 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds while helping Cleveland win its fifth consecutive game to move two games over .500 for the first time since 1999 - James' freshman year in high school.
"That's great for us, we're in a great position," James said. "We lost three straight and look at our record now, 5-3. It's better than 0-9 and it means we're doing something right."
The talk of the night was James' windmill dunk. He took a pass from Drew Gooden on the baseline, drove toward the basket and went airborne over all his defenders.
"I told you I can fly," he said. "I can fly for about 1.6 seconds and then it's time to come back down."
SPURS 88, SIXERS 80: Tim Duncan scored a season-high 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the visiting Spurs to their fifth straight victory. Allen Iverson scored 24, Kyle Korver had 17 and Corliss Williamson added 15 for the Sixers, who set a dubious team record by scoring just 6 points in the first quarter.
Late Wednesday
HEAT 113, BUCKS 106: Shaquille O'Neal scored a season-high 26 points, and Eddie Jones had 27 to help visiting Miami beat the Bucks for the second time in four days.
NUGGETS 112, RAPTORS 106: Carmelo Anthony scored 30 points and Kenyon Martin added 24 points and 16 rebounds for host Denver.
LAKERS 103, CLIPPERS 89: Kobe Bryant had 23 points, six rebounds and a season-high 11 assists for the Lakers.
GRIZZLIES 101, BLAZERS 82: Bonzi Wells scored 25 points against his former team, and Memphis beat Portland for its first road victory of the season.
WARRIORS 98, BULLS 85: Jason Richardson had 27 points and host Golden State beat winless Chicago.
Around the league
PACERS: Forward Jonathan Bender's chronically injured left knee has taken yet another turn for the worse. Bender will be out indefinitely to allow scar tissue to heal, the latest in a series of injuries. Bender played 11 minutes in Wednesday night's win over the Atlanta Hawks, the first time he'd played since the season opener against Cleveland.
AWARDS: LeBron James of Cleveland and Ray Allen of Seattle were named the NBA's players of the week.
