Basketball Update: 'Big Three' star as Miami Heat 97-72 cruise past Detroit Pistons
With a highly charged homecoming looming, it was hard for LeBron James to concentrate on the match against Detroit Pistons – or so as the people thought.
The superstar proved to the world what he is made up of as he defied all odds to pull off a match winning performance and carry Miami Heat to their second win in a row.
Pistons, who continue their poor away record (2-9) with this loss, never stood a chance as Miami turned on the heat right from the tip off.
James started it all with a layup in the first minute to hand Miami an advantage they never surrendered the entire match. The potent Heat offense bombarded the Pistons' net with a range of pinpoint shots, getting the desired result 11 times out of the first
fourteen attempts as they caught the Pistons' defence napping and raced to a 29-18 advantage by the end of the period.
Heat relentlessly continued to turn the screws on the Pistons' defence going into the second quarter as well and outscored them 11-4 midway to sit pretty 54-42 at half time.
Trailing by 12 points and facing the prospect of a pumped up Miami side that has been letting it rip in the third quarter right throughout the season, things were looking ominous for the Pistons.
With James and Chris Bosh both furnishing 14 points apiece in the first half, it was Dwyane Wade's turn to cut loose and he did it in style, scoring seven consecutive points for Heat after the break to continue the momentum.
Detroit, on the contrary, continued their third quarter woes as they managed to net only nine points in the period, shooting 4-for-21 as Heat outscored them 19-9.
After inflicting a 73-51 deficit by the end of third quarter, Heat laid to rest of whatever little fight was left in the Pistons as they reeled off an 18-6 spurt within the first eight minutes of the final quarter, capped by a Juwan Howard jump shot to surge
ahead at 91-57, their biggest lead of the match.
Pistons scored eight unanswered points in the next two minutes but it was all in vain as the fate of the match had already been sealed.
James led the charge with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists while Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade chipped in with 16 each as Heat rolled past Detroit Pistons 97-72.
Greg Monroe and Charlie Villanueva came off the bench for the Pistons to score 15 and 10 points respectively as none of the starters could manage double figures shooting only at a poor 36.8 percent, courtesy some breathtaking defence in the second half by
Heat.
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