LeBron Sits As Cavaliers Beat Warriors

No LeBron James, no problem for Cleveland. Life without Kobe Bryant wasn't so easy for the Lakers. <br/><br/>Sasha Pavlovic scored a career-high 24 points filling in for his injured teammate and the

Wednesday, January 31st 2007, 5:55 am

By: News On 6

No LeBron James, no problem for Cleveland. Life without Kobe Bryant wasn't so easy for the Lakers.

Sasha Pavlovic scored a career-high 24 points filling in for his injured teammate and the Cavaliers rolled without their superstar, pounding the Golden State Warriors 124-97 Tuesday night.

James missed his second game in a less than a week with a sprained right big toe, an injury that isn't going to improve without rest. Cleveland's medical staff advised James to take the night off and there's a chance he could miss more games.

While the Cavaliers didn't need James against the Warriors, Los Angeles couldn't overcome the loss of Kobe Bryant in a 99-94 loss to the New York Knicks.

Bryant was suspended one game without pay earlier Tuesday for hitting San Antonio's Manu Ginobili in the face late in the Lakers' overtime loss to the Spurs on Sunday.

But the Knicks, who last week lost at Miami in a game both Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal missed, knew not to take Los Angeles lightly.

``You're never going to blow them out,'' Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. ``They're a team with a great coach who understands how to manipulate a game and keep his team close, and they've got good shooters.

``Very rarely do you have blowouts and we didn't think that by no means that we were going to blow them out. But I'm glad Kobe didn't play. I'm really happy he didn't play.''

In other NBA games, it was: Washington 104, Detroit 99; Miami 110, Milwaukee 80; Indiana 103, Boston 96; and Dallas 122, Seattle 102.

In Cleveland, the Cavaliers didn't need James against the Warriors, scoring a season high in points with their most balanced attack in nearly 13 years. They improved to 8-2 in games the All-Star forward has missed because of injuries during his career.

``He's our guy, so when he's out we have to cut harder, screen better and execute that much more,'' coach Mike Brown said.

Donyell Marshall added 15 points and Cleveland snapped a three-game losing streak at home while getting eight players in double figures for the first time since April 22, 1994.

``This was a chance for some of us to make names for ourselves,'' said Marshall, who had his third straight solid game. ``We all know what LeBron can do. With him out, we knew we all had to step up.''

In New York, Eddy Curry had 27 points and nine rebounds and Stephon Marbury scored 22 points for the Knicks, who led most of the game but never pulled away. David Lee grabbed 13 rebounds and Jamal Crawford added 17 points.

Lamar Odom had 25 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Lakers.

Wizards 104, Pistons 99

At Washington, Gilbert Arenas had 36 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds in a Washington victory tempered by a knee injury to Antawn Jamison.

The win kept the Wizards ahead of the Pistons atop the Eastern Conference and gave the teams a split of the four-game season series. However, Washington left the court anxious for news about Jamison, who sprained his left knee after colliding with teammate DeShawn Stevenson under the basket during a fast break with 6:29 to play in the first quarter.

Stevenson, picking up the slack for Jamison, scored 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting.

Chauncey Billups scored 24 points, Tayshaun Prince had 19 points, and Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace finished with 15 apiece for the Pistons.

Heat 110, Bucks 80

At Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 28 points and Miami snapped a three-game losing streak.

Wade played only three quarters and shot 12-of-17 from the field, and Michael Doleac had his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds for Miami.

Charlie Villanueva scored 17 points to lead the Bucks, who have lost six of seven.

The Heat, playing without injured starters Shaquille O'Neal and Jason Williams, never trailed after Wade's 10 points keyed a 17-4 run to build a 25-12 lead with 4:23 remaining in the first quarter.

Pacers 103, Celtics 96

At Indianapolis, Jamaal Tinsley scored a season-high 28 points as Indiana handed Boston its 12th straight loss.

Jermaine O'Neal added 25 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, who won for the fourth time in five games.

Al Jefferson led the Celtics with 15 points and 17 rebounds. It was his 20th double-double of the season.

Indiana, the worst shooting team in the league, shot a season-high 53.6 percent from the field.

The Celtics are two losses short of breaking the franchise record for consecutive losses. They can tie the mark of 13 Wednesday at home against the Lakers.

Mavericks 122, SuperSonics 102

At Dallas, Austin Croshere had a career-high 34 points and Dallas stretched its home winning streak to 14 games.

The Mavericks are two wins shy of the franchise record for consecutive home wins, set last season.

Jason Terry's 19 points, Greg Buckner's season-best 17 and Devin Harris' 16 helped the Mavericks set a season high for points and beat the Sonics for the ninth straight time.

Ray Allen had 35 points, 19 in the first half, for Seattle, which tied a single-season club record with its 13th consecutive road defeat. Nick Collison and Earl Watson both had 15 points for the Sonics.

Dallas was without Josh Howard, who missed the game for the birth of his first child. Howard is expected to rejoin the team on Wednesday.