CLEVELAND, Ohio – LeBron James laughs with Jared Cunningham sometimes.
Others, James is laughing at him.
And on Tuesday night, he was celebrating him following the Cavaliers' 105-100 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
For Cunningham played a career-high 35 minutes off the bench, serving as a surprising cog in coach David Blatt's small-ball lineup that turned the game in the Cavs' favor beginning late in the second quarter.
"The game ball definitely goes to him tonight," James said. "I thought he was exceptional."
The Blazers were blitzing the Cavs from all angles in the first half, to the point where the Cavs trailed by 18 and Blatt couldn't put more than one big man on the floor.