Cleveland’s LeBron James rediscovered his headband and his peak form to lead the Cavaliers to a 106-91 victory over Chicago on Wednesday to square their NBA Eastern Conference semi-final series at 1-1.
All four semi-final series across the two conferences stand at 1-1, after Houston beat the Los Angeles Clippers to square that match.
James donned the signature headband he ditched in March, and played like a man possessed on his way to 33 points. He powered to the basket, leaving Bulls defenders in his wake and keeping the Cavaliers — missing two starters — from falling into a 2-0 hole.
He added eight rebounds and five assists for Cleveland, who led by 25 in the third quarter and withstood a third-quarter charge by the Bulls.
James said the choice to wear the headband was spur of the moment.
“It was in my locker and I decided to give it a go,” he said. “It was time for it to make a comeback.”
The Cavs made one, too, despite again missing forward Kevin Love (shoulder surgery) and J.R. Smith (two-game suspension).
“We’re a little banged up, we’re short-handed, so I have to be aggressive,” James said.
“Even more aggressive than my usual self, and I was happy I was able to make a couple of plays to help our team win tonight,” he said.
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Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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