CHICAGO | On the board in the Bulls' dressing room was the Cleveland Cavaliers scouting report written with a black marker. In red was the name "James" followed by "a team problem!"

But even Batman needs a little help from Robin now and then, and LeBron James may as well have been shipwrecked in Thursday's 107-96 blistering by the Bulls.

James finished with 39 points and left early in the final period with the Cavs down by 22. Through three quarters, he was the lone Cleveland player in double figures.

"The game's won in 48 minutes," said rookie Joakim Noah, who had 20 rebounds and 13 points. "With a guy like LeBron James, the greatest player I've ever played against, you have to be on edge."

The NBA's leading scorer, fresh off a 50-point effort against the Knicks on Wednesday, James had 26 by halftime to give his Cavs (35-27) a 51-47 lead at the United Center. A 34-16 third quarter turned it around for Chicago.

"We found our defense, which was great," said Bulls' interim coach Jim Boylan, now 16-19. "They shot 44 percent the first half and finished shooting 39 percent, so our defense was really solid.

"With LeBron, we wanted to make sure that every time he touched the ball, the alarm went off. When he sliced into the lane, we wanted three guys in the paint."

James re-aggravated an elbow injury by banging into Kirk Hinrich, but chose to blame his team's defense instead.

"We need to get back to focusing on defense," James said. "(The Bulls) became more aggressive the second half and I missed some shots that I know I can make. I can't shoot 10-for-15 both halves."

Luol Deng and reserve Ben Gordon led Chicago (25-36) with 23 points apiece as six different Bulls reached double figures.

"There's no time for hitting a wall right now," Noah said of the taxing season. "We're fighting for our (playoff) lives every time we step on the floor."

That's the kind of talk newly-acquired veteran Drew Gooden loves hearing.

"Noah's long, he's active and he wants to win. That's what I like about him. He's going to be a great player," Gooden said.

The Cavaliers again were without guard Daniel Gibson (knee) and 7-foot-3 center Zydrunas Ilgauskas (back) -- averaging a combined 25 ppg.