LeBron on Barkley: 'Chuck being Chuck'

ATLANTA – Two days after TNT’s Charles Barkley said an Atlanta Hawks players should “take somebody out,” the Cleveland Cavaliers chalked it up to Barkley’s shtick.

“That’s Chuck being Chuck,” Cavaliers star LeBron James said.

Cavs coach Ty Lue at first said no comment when asked about Barkley’s comment then said, “That’s Charles being Charles.”

The Cavs are prepared for a physical game, but James said there is no room for dirty play.

“At the end of the day I don’t think that has anything to do with the game of basketball. It’s not for our game,” James said. “For us and for those guys, we want to bring a physicality to the game but as far as taking someone out, that over exceeds what our league is all about.

“You never want to try to jeopardize anyone being injured. So I don’t think, for us we’re not going to have that on our mind. We’re going to still play our physical style of play, both offensively and defensively and I think the referees will do a great job of taking care of the game. That has nothing to do with basketball.”

Game 3 is Friday in Atlanta (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), and the Cavs are up 2-0 in the best-of-7 series.