New Jersey's Vince Carter (15) wheels past Cleveland's Drew Gooden. Gooden had 10 points and 14 rebounds, and the Cavaliers defeated the Nets, 102-92, on Tuesday night in Cleveland to take a 2-0 series lead.

Cleveland ? Wearing a menacing scowl, LeBron James stomped toward Cleveland’s jubilant bench, celebrating another of his big baskets. He wasn’t about to flash that multimillion-dollar smile.

Not now. This wasn’t the time or the place.

“He said he wanted the ball,” coach Mike Brown said.

And the Cavaliers gave it to him – again and again.

James scored 25 of his 36 points in the second half, and the Cavaliers, drawing from tough lessons learned in last year’s playoffs, beat the New Jersey Nets, 102-92, on Tuesday night to open a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

James added 12 assists, and Sasha Pavlovic scored a career playoff-high 17 points for the Cavaliers, who will head to New Jersey for Saturday’s Game 3 with a commanding lead in the best-of-seven series.

“We took care of home,” James said. “Now it’s a challenge to go into the Meadowlands. We don’t just want to win one.”

This is unfamiliar territory for Cleveland, which never has been up by two games in the semifinals. But with James around, anything could be possible for these Cavs, who have never advanced to the NBA finals.

“He made the plays to get us over the hump,” Brown said. “He was the man.”

The Nets had hoped to slip out of town with at least one win, and although they shot well enough (53 percent) to get it, they were outrebounded, 49-32, and took 20 fewer shots than the Cavs, who also kept several possessions alive by outhustling New Jersey.

“They are just kicking our tails on the boards,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said.

Vince Carter scored 26 points to lead the Nets, but for the second straight game he struggled shooting. Carter was just 10-for-26 and missed two key shots in the final two minutes when New Jersey was still close.

Richard Jefferson scored 22, and Jason Kidd had 17 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and eight turnovers for the Nets, who managed just three offensive rebounds.

“We were in it, but we just didn’t execute at the end,” Jefferson said. “We had opportunities down the stretch and now it’s on our home court. We have to figure out a way … have to.”

The Cavaliers improved to 6-0 in these playoffs and have now won 10 straight overall since their last loss April 8. In last year’s semifinals, the Cavs dropped the first two games on the road at Detroit. They were humbling losses, blowouts by the Pistons that showed the Cavs the importance of home-court advantage.

This time around, on their own floor, the Cavaliers were a different team.

“We believe in each other, and no matter what type of ballgame it’s going to be, we believe we can win,” James said.

Although he said he was still battling a head cold, James didn’t seem to be troubled by anything. With his scoring high for this postseason, he has now scored at least 20 points in all 19 career playoff games, the second-longest streak to begin a career in NBA history. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it in his first 27 postseason games.