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The Portland Trail Blazers probably don't want to see him at his best.
James recorded his seventh triple-double of the season, as the Cavaliers prevailed over Portland, 88-80, at Quicken Loans Arena.
He finished with 24 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds and two blocks. However, he had a rough shooting night, making 7 of 18 shots.
"As an individual, I didn't feel like I played particularly well, but we got the win," he said. "If you didn't play well and you have a triple-double, then something is wrong. I could have played better.
"I found other ways to control the game in the fourth quarter. We put the game away in the last 2 1/2 minutes."
Judging from his play, certainly something had to be wrong with Ben Wallace. He was ineffective in the first half, and when he didn't come out for the second half, the Cavs announced he was suffering from back spasms.
With starting center Zydrunas Ilgauskas (back strain) already sidelined, perhaps for another week, the Cavs' depth up front will come into play.
"It's a godsend," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "It's a blessing to have quality bigs like we do. When one goes down, another one steps up."
Veteran Joe Smith started the second half for the Cavs (37-27) and will likely be elevated to the starting lineup if Wallace is forced to miss any games. He ended with 18 points and five rebounds.
"We have a number of guys who are capable of carrying this team," Wallace said.
Wallace said his back has been bothering him for a few days. The pain became so intolerable, he wasn't able to return.
"It was bad," he said. "It forced me out of the game."
The 6-foot-9, 240-pounder said he's unsure how long the injury will plague him.
"We'll keep working at it and try to get it loosened up a bit," Wallace said.
He was 0 of 4 from the field in the first half and missed a wide-open, two-handed dunk. Wallace had five rebounds, but could have had twice that amount. He was held out of practice on Sunday with the same injury.
Center Anderson Varejao backed up his strong performance on Saturday with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Guard Delonte West added 10 points, and Devin Brown had eight points, four assists and three rebounds.
More importantly, Brown put the clamps on Blazers All-Star Brandon Roy. Roy ended with 15 points and seven rebounds, but he was 5 of 13 from the field.
"Devin did a solid job (on Roy)," Coach Brown said. "He tried to be physical and make him work."
The Cavs can credit their defense for the hard-fought victory. They limited the Trail Blazers (33-31) to 34.3 percent shooting in the second half.
"That's a very, very talented offensive team," James said. "We just wanted to get stops."
The Blazers did outrebound the Cavs, 42-39, as both forwards LaMarcus Aldridge and Martell Webster each had 10 rebounds. Aldridge led all scorers with 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting. The 6-11 forward/center had just three points in the fourth quarter, when the Cavs double-teamed him in the post.
The Cavs used a 17-7 run in the third quarter to take their first lead of the game, 62-61. Varejao's three-point play came with 9.2 seconds left in the third quarter. The teams were tied at 62 heading into the fourth.
The Cavs took the lead for good, 81-80, on Smith's free throws with 2:00 remaining.
James had scored 25 of more points in 21 consecutive games before Monday. That was the longest streak in the NBA since Allen Iverson did it in 27 consecutive games from Jan. 12-March 9, 2001.
James did extend his streak of 20 points or more to 41 games in a row. His triple-double on Monday was the 17th of his career.
He's dreaming of getting the entire unit together.
"Until we get our whole unit back, I don't know how we're clicking," he said. "I know we're playing good basketball (they've won eight of 11). Ben went down, and Joe stepped in and played exceptionally well.
"It's going to be scary how good we can be."
