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Despite the slew of boos and negative chants Clevelandanders threw at LeBron James last night, the Miami Heat dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers from the opening tip until the final buzzer. LeBron was clearly determined to get back at Cleveland for months of trash talk and bad mouthing his reputation had received and he led the Heat in this 118-90 blowout that felt more like a 40-point game most of the night.
James had his best night of the season, scoring 38 points on 15-of-25 shooting while making seven of his nine long two-point jumpers and two three’s. LeBron also added eight assists and five rebounds in his only game against the Cavs in Cleveland for the season. James clearly had his swagger back in this game after playing some rather uninspiring basketball for the first few weeks of the season. After hitting a fading baseline jumper in the third quarter LeBron turned and taunted the players on the very bench he used to sit on. The Cavs were up by 32 at the time, so it was totally uncalled for, but to see him really engaged in a game again was a welcome sight.
Dwyane Wade added 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting with nine rebounds, nine assists and three steals and James Jones had 18 points and five three’s off the bench.
Cleveland couldn’t shoot a lick in this game (as a team, they converted just 36% of their looks) and it seemed like Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison and J.J. Hickson were all trying too hard to make their impact on the game felt. Boobie Gibson was the only Cavalier to play well last night as he finished with 21 points on six-of-14 shooting with four three’s.
