Orcollo umusad sa finals

EAST RUTHERFORD (AFP) - LeBron James collected 23 points, eight rebounds as Cleveland advanced to the NBA semi-finals with an 88-72 win over New Jersey in game six of their playoff series on Friday.

"I'm the leader of this team," James said. "This is a big win for us."

"We picked it up in the fourth and got the job done.

"Our guys knocked it down. In game five we had some opportunties and we didn't knock it down."

Donyell Marshall scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarter for Cleveland, which lost to Detroit in seven games in their second-round matchup last season.

But this time around, a trip the National Basketball Association Finals will be up for grabs in a meeting between the East's top two seeds.

But before securing their appointment with the Pistons, the Cavaliers needed to eliminate a feisty Nets squad.

New Jersey faced the daunting task of attempting to become the ninth team in NBA playoff history to erase a 3-1 series deficit.

Staring down elimination in game five, it did not crumble on the road.

The Nets posted an 83-72 win over the Cavaliers on Wednesday.

Cleveland did not look ready to play in that contest, shooting just 33 percent from the field (24-of-72).

James scored 20 points on only five-of-14 shooting.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas (16 points) was the only other Cleveland player to score in double digits. On Friday, however, James and the Cavaliers came out firing on all cylinders.

James scored 14 points in the opening period for Cleveland, which ran out to a 32-15 lead entering the second quarter.

The Cavaliers, who led by as many as 22 points in the first half, finished the first quarter on a 23-4 run capped by Marshall's three-pointer with three seconds left.

New Jersey, on the other hand, could not find the basket, scoring just 15 points on seven-of-21 shooting in the first 12 minutes.

In the second half, James was in foul trouble, leading to Cleveland's postseason-low eight points in the third quarter - allowing New Jersey to creep back into the game.

The Nets got as close as 64-63 with 9:38 remaining in the fourth on a three-point play by Mikki Moore.

However, New Jersey did not score again until the 1:46 mark on a three-pointer by Antoine Wright to make it 86-72.

James shot eight-of-20 from the field and Marshall was six-of-11, including six-of-10 on three-pointers.

The Cavaliers, who shot 43 percent (33-of-76) overall, were 11-of-27 from the arc.

Vince Carter, who has an opt-out clause in his contract and may have played his final game as a Net, scored just 11 points on four-of-11 shooting for New Jersey, which shot just 38 percent (26-of-69).