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NBA
Cavaliers unlock Magic's defense
Associated Press
Published November 19, 2005
CLEVELAND - Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half, LeBron James added 16 and the Cavaliers cruised to their fifth blowout win at home, 102-84 over the Magic on Friday night.
With their sixth consecutive victory, the Cavs improved to 7-2, matching the second-best start in franchise history - the 1976-77 squad started 8-0.
Drew Gooden added 15 points, Damon Jones made five 3-pointers, Larry Hughes had 12 points and Jackson had the night's nicest pass for the Cavs, who are 5-0 at Quicken Loans Arena, winning by an average 20 points.
Orlando came in as the league's stingiest defensive team, but the Cavs beat the Magic for the second time in a week, and broke the 100-point plateau against Orlando for the second time. The Magic has held its other six opponents under 100.
Steve Francis had 21 points and Dwight Howard added 10 points and 15 rebounds for Orlando, which was outrebounded 54-40.
Ilgauskas, who also had 11 rebounds, and James spent most of the fourth quarter on the bench, getting rest for tonight's game at Philadelphia.
Leading by 14 at halftime, the Cavaliers opened their lead to 20 after three quarters, capped by James' one-handed dunk off an alley-oop pass from Jackson. The play began with Ilgauskas poking the ball away from Howard underneath.
Jackson hit a 3-pointer and Jones buried his fifth 3 as the Cavaliers extended their lead to 28 with 8:47 left. Cavs coach Mike Brown then emptied his bench.
After the Magic pulled within 43-35 in the second quarter, Ilgauskas came off the bench and helped the Cavs push their lead to 14 at halftime by making two straight jumpers and feeding Gooden with a behind-the-back pass in traffic.
Ilgauskas, who led the league in offensive rebounds last season, played volleyball around the basket in the first. Tipping back his own misses, he scored 15 points and was credited with seven offensive boards in the quarter.
[Last modified November 19, 2005, 01:08:18]
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