Too much James as Bulls fall to Cavs, now down two games to none

CLEVELAND—LeBron James scored 40 points and took over in the fourth quarter as the Cleveland Cavaliers, fueled by a rabid home crowd that booed every move by Joakim Noah, maintained home-court advantage by beating the Bulls 112-102 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference playoffs.James added eight rebounds and eight assists for the Cavs, who led 96-93 with 4:30 left before the league’s soon-to-be-two-time MVP decided to dominate.James dropped a 3-pointer that he capped with a quick dance move and wink toward the Bulls bench, made two free throws, a layup and two jumpers, scoring 11 straight as Cleveland opened a 107-98 lead with 1:36 left.Noah, who criticized Cleveland’s lack of downtown activity, scored 25 points and had 13 rebounds. Derrick Rose added 23 and Luol Deng 20. Game 3 is Thursday night in the United Center.