The Miami Heat pulled away in the fourth quarter on Monday night for a 107-91 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, to improve to 12-2 at American Airlines Arena this season. Miami hit an amazing 23 of 26 attempts from the free throw line to seal the win over LeBron James's former team. James and Dwyane Wade led Miami on the offensive end, with James scoring 24 points and Wade finishing with a game-high 26. Chris Bosh, Mario Chalmers, and Udonis Haslem all supported James and Wade with double figures, as the Heat spread the wealth and cruised comfortably over the final quarter of the game.
The Cavaliers, meanwhile missed ten of their 30 attempts from the charity stripe. Veteran Antawn Jamison led Cleveland with 25 points and rookie sensation Kyrie Irving added 16 points. Mario Chalmers and the Miami backcourt held their own against Irving, as the talented rookie went just five of 15 from the floor and turned it over five times.
Miami now hits the road but travels just up state to Orlando to face the Magic on Wednesday on the second night of a back-to-back.
After one half at American Airlines Arena, the Miami Heat lead the Cleveland Cavaliers 54-48. The Heat are looking to win their eighth game in nine contests on Monday night, and as usual, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have led the way so far. Miami is a perfect 11 for 11 from the free throw line, which has been the difference through the first 24 minutes. James has 14 points while Wade has added 13 points.
The Cavs are coming off a big home win over the Dallas Mavericks, as rookie Kyrie Irving continued to impress in his first season. Irving has 10 points and 4 assists so far for Cleveland, while veteran Antawn Jamison has done a lot of the lifting on the offensive end for the Cavaliers. He has a whopping 20 points already.
Daniel Gibson has missed the past four games with a neck infection and will also sit out tonight's matchup against the Heat. Anthony Parker has missed three games with a strained lower back, but may play tonight. Tristan Thompson has missed three games with a sprained left ankle. He may also play tonight.
Tonight's game marks the first time this season that LeBron James returns to face the Cavaliers in Cleveland. Look for the boo-birds to be out in full force tonight. Tonight's tip off is at 7:30 P.M.
Heat forward LeBron James played his first seven seasons in Cleveland. He is the Cavaliers all time leader in points, with 15,251 and in steals, with 955. He is second all-time in assists, with 3,810. James is also fourth all time with 3,861 rebounds and with 482 blocks. In 548 games, he averaged 28 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, 1.8 steals and just under one block in just over 40 minutes per night.
11 more field goals will move LeBron James into 16th all-time, passing Sherman Douglas with 1,012. Eight more assists will move him past Dan Majerle into 15th, with 718. 22 points will move him past PJ Brown and Voshon Lenard, into 13th all-time with 2,805.
Dwyane Wade will eclipse the 5,000 field goal mark with seven tonight.
Four more three-pointers for James Jones will move him past James Posey into 13th all-time with 215.
The Miami Heat welcome back the Cleveland Cavaliers back to the American Airlines Arena, tonight at 7:30. Miami is right behind the Bulls in the Eastern Conference standings, while the Cavs sit in the number nine slot.
