honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, March 3, 2009

James, Cavs turn on Heat

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Miami's Dwyane Wade gave himself a lift before the Heat's game against Cleveland last night.

LYNNE SLADKY | Associated Press

spacer spacer
Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

LeBron James

spacer spacer

MIAMI — LeBron James watched Dwyane Wade steal the ball, drive for a reverse dunk that gave the Miami Heat an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, and summoned Mo Williams for a quick meeting.

"It's up to us," James told Williams.

With that, the comeback got started.

James scored 42 points, Williams got 15 of his 30 points in the final 7:14 to lead a stirring rally, and the Cleveland Cavaliers dominated the final minutes to beat the Heat, 107-100, last night.

"It was tough. It was tough," James said. "It's probably one of the better wins we've had this year, man."

A historic win, too. The Cavs are now 47-12 — 35 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history.

Wade's dunk put Miami up 91-80 with 7:52 left. The Heat shot 2-for-17 with four turnovers the rest of the way, getting outscored 27-9 — a far cry from Saturday night, when the Heat got 24 from Wade in the final quarter to pull off a stunning win over the New York Knicks.

This time, the Heat were witnesses, not winners.

"A huge loss," Wade said. "It hurts."

Williams also had seven rebounds and seven assists, and got the comeback going with two huge 3-pointers to spark a 12-0 run that erased what seemed like a comfortable lead midway through the final period.

James sealed it with 42.7 seconds left, blowing past Jamario Moon for a fierce right-handed slam to put the Cavs up 100-95.

That dunk — fierce even by LeBron standards — left Cleveland coach Mike Brown stammering for words.

"I thought, I didn't think, I don't know, I don't know how he did it," Brown said.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 12 points and had 15 rebounds for Cleveland, which moved a full game ahead of idle Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Spurs 106, Clippers 78: Tony Parker had 26 points and 10 assists, and the visiting Spurs pulled away in the third quarter with four 3-pointers from Michael Finley. Tim Duncan, playing his second game after missing the previous three with a sore right knee, had 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists before sitting out the fourth quarter.

Hawks 98, Wizards 89: Marvin Williams scored 28 points, and the Hawks completed a season sweep of the host Wizards. Al Horford added 16 points, and Joe Johnson had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks.

Thunder 96, Mavericks 87: Nenad Krstic scored a season-high 23 points, rookie Russell Westbrook added 17 as part of his first career triple-double (10 rebounds, 10 assists), and host Oklahoma City beat Dallas.

Hornets 98, 76ers 91: David West was big again for visiting New Orleans, scoring 30 points with 10 rebounds to lead the Hornets to their fifth straight win.

Anthony suspended: The Denver Nuggets suspended Carmelo Anthony for one game for an "in-game transgression" Sunday against Indiana. Rex Chapman, vice president of player personnel, would not elaborate on what Anthony did to earn the suspension. Anthony will miss Denver's game at Detroit tonight. He will return to the lineup for Thursday's game against Portland.

• • •