"Once again, recent trade Antawn Jamison is giving the Cavaliers a boost.

His biggest contribution came Sunday afternoon in Game 4 of the Cavs' opening-round series against the Chicago Bulls. Jamison scored 24 points, had seven rebounds and two assists in a 121-98 win over the Bulls.

The 12-year veteran combined with James to score 23 points in the third quarter to help plaster Chicago and quash its hopes of a comeback.

During that quarter, Jamison sensed that Bulls forward Luol Deng couldn't cover him and spent much of the time victimizing him off of pick-and-rolls from LeBron James. When Jamison wasn't doing that, he put the ball on the floor and took him to the hoop.

Jamison said it was important to get going after Thursday night's loss to the Bulls.

''After Game 3 we were very frustrated. We put ourselves in a difficult position. We did a nice job of making it close at the end,'' he said ''We could not afford to let a team like this gain momentum and confidence.''

In that game, the Bulls' Kirk Hinrich turned out to be the Bulls' missing ingredient or X-factor. For the Cavs, James said that could be Jamison.

''It's hard to cover him. He goes around [small forwards] or [power forwards]. I'm glad he's on our side because I've been on the other side of him for years,'' James said.

Hickson sees action

J.J. Hickson made a significant postseason appearance and, except for a little bit of rust, played well, scoring 10 points. His entry into the game was a matter of necessity more than anything else, coach Mike Brown said. Shaquille O'Neal and Anderson Varejao got into early foul trouble.

''I knew I wanted to go with him if it came down to needing another big,'' he said. ''We looked for him to buy us minutes and he did.''

About that start

The Cavs didn't take control of Sunday's game until near the end of the first half. Prior to that, the Bulls played them evenly until the team's energy level increased.

''We just got fed up. They played hard. They did a good job in Game 3,'' Jamison said. ''They're a young team and the more and more they stick with you, the more confidence they gain. We just wanted to do a better job, especially going into halftime to get a lead and some momentum.''"