It’s been 43 years since a Cleveland team captured a major pro sports title. The Browns lost three straight AFC titles to John Elway and the Denver Broncos, and the Indians haven’t won a World Series since 1948.

The Cavaliers, who joined the league in 1970, now have a shot to end a drought that has spanned generations for Cleveland fans.

“Something had to go right for Cleveland sports,” James said.

A lengthy delay at the start of the second quarter because of a scoreboard malfunction drained most of the energy from the frenzied crowd and prevented the Cavaliers from adding to their six-point lead.

Annoyed by the delay, James scored nine points — all free throws — in the first half. Officially, he tried just two shots from the field in the first 24 minutes but was fouled on several drives to the basket and got to the line 11 times.

Just as he did before Game 3, James arrived at the arena more than 3½ hours before tipoff to get in some extra shooting practice. Wearing one of his popular “Witness” T-shirts, he worked on 3-pointers, free throws and his post-up moves, backing down imaginary Pistons for easy inside baskets.

Powerless to stop him in Game 5 on their home court, the Pistons were determined not to allow James to score as he did. They were as loose as always in the locker room before the game, as Wallace blasted some Snoop Doog from a portable stereo and several of his teammates bobbed to the beat.

Following the morning shootaround, Billups declared that Detroit’s defense would not allow James an encore of his 48-point masterpiece.

“No, that won’t happen again,” Billups warned. “I won’t say the kid can’t get 40, you know what I’m saying? But he won’t get the 40 like that again. No, no, trust me. Not like that. If he can get 40 with fadeaways and all that, then tip your hat. He won’t get that kind of 40 again.”

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He didn’t have to, as Gibson and his less-heralded teammates stepped up and made sure their wouldn’t have to go back to Auburn Hills, Mich., where they lost Game 7 in the conference semifinals last year.

“We said we were going to make somebody else beat us, and the kid (Gibson) scored 30,” Billups said.

After scoring 29 of Cleveland’s final 30 in Game 5, James came out looking to get his teammates involved. He took only one shot in the first quarter but finished with five rebounds and five assists as the Cavaliers took a 27-21 lead into the second.

Because the scoreboard, 24-second shot clock and game clock were not operating in the second quarter, Cavaliers public-address announcer Olivier Sedra counted down in five-second intervals from 10 during each possession so the teams knew how much time they had left to shoot.

Notes: R&B star Usher, one of the Cavs’ minority owners, sang the national anthem. ... The win was Brown’s 19th in the playoffs, moving him past Lenny Wilkens for the most in team history. ... It was Cleveland’s first game in June. The latest date the Cavaliers had ever played before was May 29, 1992, a 99-94 loss in the conference finals to the Chicago Bulls.

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