TURKEY BOUND - James denied at the end as Cavs fall to Bulls

NEW York (2010 FIBA World Championship) - The Quicken Loans Arena hasn't been a happy hunting ground for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season.

That was certainly the case on Thursday night in an 86-85 home defeat for LeBron James and the Cavs to the Chicago Bulls.

James, the superstar who has yet to announce if he will play for Team USA at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey, had a chance to win the game at the end for Cleveland but was denied by Chicago Bulls pair Luol Deng of Great Britain and Joakim Noah of France.

With 4.3 seconds left in the game, Cleveland inbounded the ball to James and he drove hard to the basket but missed his shot and failed to draw a foul from Deng, or Noah who had left Shaquille O'Neal to help defend.

"It's a call you think you may get," James said.

"I felt a push from Deng and some contact over the top from Noah. Enough to put me on the free throw line? Yes. But that's a judgment call for the officials."

Noah was adamant there was no foul.

"I didn't feel like it was even close to being a foul," Noah said.

"I wasn't worried because there was no contact at all."

James finished with 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists, a steal and a block while Noah, who is likely to represent France at the FIBA World Championship, had 11 rebounds to go with his seven points.

Deng had 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists and also swatted a shot. The Londoner will play next year in Turkey if Great Britain receive a wild card for the 24-team event.

Cleveland have lost two of their three home games.

Here are some other notable performances from players that could be with their national teams at the FIBA World Championship, including those who compete in the Euroleague.

Brazil

• Anderson Varejao - The Brazil big man had 12 points and 13 rebounds in Cleveland's home defeat to Chicago in the NBA.
• Marcelo Huertas - The point guard scored a season-high 21 points to fire Caja Laboral to an 82-76 win at Union Olimpija in the Euroleague.
• Tiago Splitter - The Brazil center finished with 11 points and seven rebounds for Caja Laboral.

Canada

• Carl English - The shooting guard came off the bench and scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds for Caja Laboral.

Lithuania

• Rimantas Kaukenas - The Lithuanians sorely missed Kaukenas' scoring and leadership at the EuroBasket in Poland when they crashed out in the Qualifying Round. He had a team-high 17 points for Real Madrid on Thursday in their 80-70 win over defending Euroleague champions Panathinaikos. Lithuania will play at the FIBA World Championship if they receive a wild card.
• Darjus Lavrinovic - The big man had 15 points, five rebounds and two steals for Real Madrid.
• Mantas Kalnietis - The Zalgiris Kaunas guard scored 13 points, dished out six assists and came up with three steals in his team's 77-70 home defeat to Regal Barcelona in the Euroleague.

France

• Tony Parker - The San Antonio Spurs point guard scored 21 points in their 113-99 defeat at the Utah Jazz.

Great Britain

• Joel Freeland - The power forward, whose NBA rights are owned by Portland, had 15 points and nine rebounds as Unicaja Malaga won their third straight Euroleague game, 93-88, over Efes Pilsen.
• Robert Archibald - The Britain center scored 12 points and grabbed eight boards for Unicaja.

Turkey

• Ender Arslan - The playmaker who comes off the bench for Bogdan Tanjevic's Turkey scored 10 points and handed out eight assists for Efes in their loss at Unicaja.
• Mehmet Okur - The center scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds in Utah's win.
• Kaya Peker – The Efes Pilsen man scored 17 points, grabbed seven boards and came up with three steals at Unicaja. The 30-year-old center could be in line for a place in Turkey’s national team again.

Argentina

• Pablo Prigioni - The Argentina playmaker finished with 11 points, four boards, two assists and two steals for Real Madrid in their victory over Panathinaikos.
• Manu Ginobili - Batman had 11 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in San Antonio's 14-point defeat at Utah.

Spain

• Sergio Llull - The Spain national team youngster, whose NBA rights are held by Houston, had 12 points, four rebounds and four assists for Real Madrid against Panathinaikos.
• Ricky Rubio - The 19-year-old point guard finished with eight points, five assists and six rebounds for Barcelona in their victory at Zalgiris Kaunas.

Serbia

• Novica Velickovic - The Real Madrid forward scored seven points, grabbed four rebounds and came up with two steals against Panathinaikos.
• Milenko Tepic - Velickovic's Serbia teammate had six points and four rebounds for Panathinaikos in defeat.

Greece

• Antonis Fotsis - The versatile Greek forward scored eight points and corralled five rebounds for Panathinaikos.
• Vassilis Spanoulis - The Panathinaikos guard had six assists and three steals to go with his four points but turned the ball over five times.
• Nick Calathes - The former Florida Gator played less than 10 minutes and had one point and one rebound for Panathinaikos.
• Dimitris Diamantidis - Greece's best defensive player had seven points and two assists for Panathinaikos but no steals or blocks.

Puerto Rico

• Daniel Santiago – The big man had four points and two rebounds for Efes Pilsen in less than 10 minutes off the bench.

Russia

• Andrei Kirilenko - The EuroBasket 2007 MVP scored 12 points and hauled in six rebounds for Utah in their 14-point win over San Antonio. Kirilenko will play at the FIBA World Championship if Russia receive a wild card.

Slovenia

• Erazem Lorbek - The piano-playing big man of Slovenia scored 11 points and pulled down four rebounds in Barcelona's seven-point win at Zalgiris Kaunas.
• Jaka Lakovic - The sharpshooter buried three of four shots from long range and finished with 11 points for Barca.
• Bostjan Nachbar - The Slovenia star had 17 points for Efes Pilsen in their five-point defeat at Unicaja.

Team USA

• Carlos Boozer - The power forward had 27 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks and two steals for Utah in the triumph over San Antonio.
• Deron Williams - The USA playmaker scored 27 points, handed out nine assists, pulled down seven rebounds and had a steal and a block for Utah.

FIBA