Cavaliers' LeBron James the leader of the band

THE HEADBAND returned. The aggressiveness, dunks and dazzling plays all came back, too.

LeBron James rarely has two sub-par games in a row, especially in the playoffs.

James attacked from the start and scored 33 points, Kyrie Irving added 21 and the Cleveland Cavaliers evened their semifinal series with Chicago, beating the visiting Bulls 106-91 in Game 2 last night.

Donning his signature headband for the first time in two months and powering to the basket, James kept the Cavs from falling into a 2-0 hole. He added eight rebounds and five assists for Cleveland, which led by 25 in the third quarter and withstood a third-quarter charge by the Bulls.

For the second straight game, the Cavs were without forward Kevin Love (shoulder surgery) and J.R. Smith (two-game suspension). But they had James and he was more like himself after a sub-par performance in the opener.

"We're a little banged up, we're shorthanded, so I have to be aggressive," James said. "Even more aggressive than my usual self, and I was happy I was able to make a couple of plays to help our team win tonight."

Jimmy Butler scored 18 and Derrick Rose had 14 points and 10 assists for the Bulls, who host Game 3 tomorrow night. Pau Gasol added 11 points - 10 fewer than Game 1, when he destroyed the Cavs on uncontested jumpers.

Iman Shumpert added 15 points, James Jones made five three-pointers and Tristan Thompson added 12 rebounds for Cleveland. Thompson started at power forward in Love's spot, allowing James to move back to his usual role at small forward.

On the perimeter is where James is most dangerous and he made it clear from the outset that he wasn't going to stand around and wait for the game to come to him.

The Cavs burst to a 13-2 lead and led by 22 in the first quarter.

"They smashed us," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.

The Bulls used a 14-0 run to get within 11 in the third quarter, but Jones hit consecutive threes and James scored twice near the basket to put Cleveland up by 16 going into the fourth.

James arrived at Quicken Loans Arena at around 4 p.m., three hours before tip-off. As if there needed to be another sign of the game's importance to Cleveland this was it, as the superstar typically gets to the arena for a home game around 90 minutes before the start.

"Maybe he wanted to beat the traffic," quipped Cavs coach David Blatt. "Knowing him, it was something else."

It sure was.

Back in his familiar headband after ditching it since March 7, and with an all-business look from the time he took the floor for warmups, James came out as aggressively as he promised.

He scored 14 points in the first quarter and got to the free-throw line five times, three more than in Monday's 99-92 loss. James, who went just 9-for-22 from the field in Game 1, set the tone and his teammates followed.

"That's what a leader of the team is supposed to do," Rose said. "Everybody on the team followed right behind him."

Love visited his teammates in the locker room before the game, and he joined them on the bench in the second quarter. Moments after Love, wearing a sling on his left arm, waved to the crowd.

Speaking of slings, the Cavaliers canceled a plan to give away 20,000 arm slings to fans to show support for Love, who underwent surgery last week after his left shoulder was dislocated when his arm was yanked from the socket by Boston center Kelly Olynyk in Cleveland's series-clinching win in the opening round. The Cavs intended to hand out the slings, adorned with a sponsor's name, but scrapped the idea.

A team spokesman would not comment on the giveaway.

* New Orleans Pelicans forward Quincy Pondexter has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.

The Pelicans say the procedure was successful, adding that they'll soon be able to project a timetable for Pondexter's return to "basketball activities."

New Orleans acquired the 6-7 Pondexter from Memphis on Jan. 12 in a three-team deal that also involved Boston.