By Brian Windhorst

January 12, 2010, 1:11AM

UPDATED: 1:56 a.m.

OAKLAND, Calif. — After last season the Cavaliers dedicated themselves to adding size to their roster. At nearly the midpoint of the season, they’ve never looked so big.

It was accentuated Monday night against the small and quick Golden State Warriors. In a trap game against a good home team that plays an uncommon style, the Cavs got through it by literally just standing tall and showing off the depth of height on their roster.

The result was a hard-fought but strategically sound 117-114 victory at Oracle Arena, the Cavs’ (30-10) second in a row on the testing West Coast trip.

It turned out to be much harder than it had to be, thanks to the Warriors’ hot 3-point shooting and the Cavs’ continued issues with turnovers. Rookie Stephen Curry actually had a miracle 3-point attempt at the final buzzer to force overtime that came up short.

“It was a tough game for the simple fact that they junked the game up,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said. “They played five smalls and ran around out there and we were able to hang around and win.”

But that wasn’t truly the crux of the contest, just a testament to how frisky the Warriors (11-25) can be.

Instead of worrying about how to match up with the Warriors (11-25), who weren’t afraid to play 6-7 Cartier Martin or 6-6 Corey Maggette at the center spot, the Cavs just deployed their legion of big men and went to work for most of the night.

Technically that includes Shaquille O’Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao. But against the Warriors they can extend to long players like LeBron James and Jawad Williams. It was all arms, legs, rebounds and blocks and the Warriors ultimately couldn’t deal.

In a way, it was one of the most polished and professional efforts from James this season. He didn’t have 40 points or a triple double, though he was close. But he played smart and physical basketball and showed just how versatile his size can make him.

His stats read 37 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists but those aren’t fully telling of his performance. He was devastating against Golden State’s talented but short personnel.James was a monster in guarding the basket, the product of having to spend extended periods playing small forward because the Warriors had miniaturized their lineup. He made big defensive play after big defensive play, tying a season high with four blocks and affecting a dozen or so more plays in the paint with his quickness and size.

Meanwhile he was under control at the offensive end. After putting up 19 points in the first half he didn’t take a shot for the first 11 minutes of the third quarter while handing out five assists. The heavy lifting was being done by his even bigger men, which will be discussed in a moment.

Then in the fourth quarter, when the Warriors attempt to junk the game by moving Maggette and Martin in as their big men, James put on another display. He ravaged Maggette by going into the post, where the two were left alone on an island for the sellout crowd to watch. The other Cavaliers on the court down the stretch were Mo Williams, Delonte West, Daniel Gibson and Anthony Parker, making James the de-facto center as the Warriors tried to force the Cavs’ size off the court.

Showing off his maturing post game, he repeatedly burned the scheme and racked up 15 of his points to put the game away.

“That’s a point in my game that I worked a lot on this off-season and it is something I know I can go to,” James said. “This was the perfect time for it.”

Shaquille O’Neal had another strong game against a team that can’t cover him by scoring 13 points with six rebounds and two blocks. Zydrunas Ilgauskas came off the bench and did more of the same, setting up shop on the inside and scoring nearly at will in the paint on his way to 14 points and nine rebounds.

Then there was Anderson Varejao, who is perfectly suited to play the Warriors’ style. He guarded smaller men and scored over them. He guarded the Warriors’ few big men, a list that got shorter when starting center Rony Turiaf sprained his ankle in the first half, and danced around them for points. When it was over he had 15 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

Add in Williams, who is 6-9 himself and was an effective defender, and his career high 11 points and the big men were just too much.

In all, the Cavs outscored the Warriors, 54-34, in the paint and outrebounded them, 46-38.

Had it not been for Golden State’s 3-point game, where they hit 10 of 15 tries, it would never have been close. Maggette led Golden State with 32 points, going 17-of-18 from the line. Monta Ellis had 30 points but was just 9-of-25 shooting.

“It’s a game were you’re in positions that you’re not accustomed to,” James said. “It is different challenge but you have to do it to win the game.”