LeBron James outshines Dwyane Wade as Cavaliers whip Miami Heat
LeBron James was too much for the Heat, taking over at point guard and scoring 36 points as the Cavaliers extended their winning streak to 10.
The Heat knew it faced a tall task when it carried a three-game losing streak into Thursday's game against the NBA's hottest team on the second night of a treacherous back-to-back set.
But Miami had no idea it would prove to be this tall. With Daniel Gibson at a local hospital to be with his pregnant fiancée, R&B singer Keyshia Cole, the Cavaliers were forced to make a big lineup change.
LeBron James essentially took over as a 6-8, 250-pound point guard and was flanked on the perimeter by 6-6 swingman Anthony Parker and 6-9 shooting guard Jawad Williams. Gibson returned for the second half.
The Heat simply couldn't stack up and fell to the Cavaliers 102-86 Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena. Miami (24-26) extended its season-long losing streak to four games and has dropped six of seven.
James set season highs for free throws made and attempted by going 17 of 21 from the line. He finished with 36 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead Cleveland (40-11) to its 10th consecutive victory and ninth in its past 10 games against the Heat.
Dwyane Wade countered with 24 points, nine assists and three rebounds, but had six turnovers for the second time in as many nights.
The Cavs opened the fourth quarter with a 15-7 run to push their lead to 96-80 with 6:07 left in the game. The Heat, which lost 107-102 on Wednesday in Boston, didn't have the legs to mount much of a finish as it fell to 2-8 this season on the second night of a back-to-back set. Miami was also outscored 20-2 in fastbreak points on Thursday.
Even before Cleveland made the last-minute lineup change, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra had already braced for the prospect of James handling the ball at the point.
``An interesting dynamic,'' Spoelstra said before Thursday's game. ``It shows you how gifted and talented James is. He can turn his mind-set into being a playmaker -- and he's playing an intellectual, bait-you-in game.''
It's the kind of possum game James has excelled at since he was forced to handle more of the playmaking responsibilities with point guard Mo Williams out with a shoulder injury.
James was happy to get the best of his good buddy Wade yet again.
``To a fan's eye, it may seem like it is one-on-one, like I'm matching D-Wade and D-Wade is matching me,'' James said entering Thursday's game. ``But we do have teammates out there and we try to keep them in the flow. But at the same time, we don't like to lose to each other.''
Miami used as many as four defenders in an attempt to slow James. The Heat could have used twice that many and it wouldn't have mattered with the way the James has played lately.
``You think he's trying to set up to score, and he's really just baiting you to try to create opportunities for his teammates,'' Spoelstra said of James.
``It shows he's got a point-guard mentality even though he's always among the leaders in scoring.''
Wade tried to keep up but was on the bad end of two humbling plays. Cavs forward J.J. Hickson emphatically dunked him on in the first half and then had his dunk blocked by Hickson in the second.
Michael Beasley had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, which is 0-2 on its three-game trip that wraps up Saturday in Chicago.
Wade said the weight of the Heat's losing record is heavy, but not so much that it has become an emotional distraction.
Although Wade has held his own in the matchups with James, he knows the teams are playing for different stakes.
``You've got to be realistic,'' he said. ``His team has NBA championship aspirations. We don't. We don't have that. We're focusing on trying to get to the playoffs. They're trying to get to the championship. that's totally different.''
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