Fired up and frustrated, LeBron James leads Cavs, who extend Hornets' losing streak

Even early on in Wednesday’s game between the Charlotte Hornets and the Cleveland Cavaliers, an eventual 115-107 Cleveland victory, it was obvious that LeBron James was motivated.

And for good reason. The Cavs have been far from their usually dominant selves this season, wimpering to a 7-7 record through their first month or so of game action coming into the contest.

Luckily for James, his opponent Wednesday has seen its fair share of struggles lately. The Hornets recently concluded a four-game road trip, which ended up being a four-game losing streak. Or for James, who is 43-6 against the Hornets (and Bobcats) all-time including the playoffs, the perfect team against whom to right the ship.

James wasted little time making that mission known and felt. About four minutes into the game, he took an alley-oop and slammed it home for two of his eventual 31 points, which led all scorers. The score seemed to bulge with James’ intensity, as the Cavaliers built an early 19-6 lead.

To the Hornets’ credit they rallied, mostly behind the return from injury of Nic Batum and later Kemba Walker. James said earlier in the day that shutting down Walker, the so-called “head of the snake,” was the team’s priority, and the first half was sort of a mixed bag for that.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James had a big dunk in the fourth quarter that all but sealed the 115-107 win for Cleveland against the Charlotte Hornets.

Jeff Siner jsiner@charlotteobserver.com

Walker only had 12 at the break, but the Hornets still led by six.

“It’s tough just staying in front of him,” Jae Crowder, who drew the defensive matchup with Walker, said. “He can get anywhere he wants to on the court with his speed and his handle.”

Then in the second half, James’ motivation seemed to morph into frustration, at two specific points. The first was when a fan near court level began jawing with James, who jawed back. Security eventually slapped the fan’s beer away and removed him, but not before James had a chance to get heated. James declined to address the situation after the game.

Then there was on-the-court angst, too, as James had to deal with something that usually doesn’t concern him: foul trouble. He picked up two offensive fouls in the span of a minute midway through the third quarter, both to his displeasure and Hornets fans’ favor. Walker, who drew the first charge, got up after the play pumping his fists. Meanwhile, James handed the ball to the ref and stormed down the court, and as any adept lip reader will tell you, he wasn’t pleased.

“I’ve just got to come out and sit down,” James said. “When I get back in, I’m back to myself. It was a couple of calls that could have gone the other way tonight, that I feel like weren’t fouls. But, hey, that’s the name of the game and that’s why you’ve got teammates.”

So those teammates stepped up, which hasn’t always been the case this season, namely Channing Frye and Jeff Green. At that point the Hornets had done what they needed to with James – it was the rest of the Cavaliers who ended up putting the game away.

“Our defense was phenomenal,” James said. “Our fourth-quarter lineup, they started and they were getting stop after stop after stop.”

James might say that, but actually it isn’t entirely fair, or true. Yes, the Cavaliers’ fourth-quarter defense was tremendous, as countless Hornets players agreed after the game. But if the game to that point was a story, what with conflict and characters and drama, then surely it deserved a fitting punctuation. Say, an exclamation mark. That duty did not fall to James’ teammates – that fell to the man himself.

And so with 3 minutes, 3 seconds to play in the game and the Hornets down seven, James gambled. He intercepted a pass from Batum, one of the Frenchman’s few poor plays in his season debut, with nothing but open floor ahead of him. From there, it was simple. Run. Jump. Dunk (viciously). Ball game.

In that moment, James’ energy seemed to funnel out through his arm, as if spiking the ball through the hoop was his last act on Wednesday night. Turns out it was – and it was all the Cavaliers needed to ensure the Hornets’ losing streak continues for at least one more game.

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