J.J. Hickson shines as Cleveland Cavaliers shock the surging Miami Heat with a 102 – 90 defeat - NBA
The Miami Heat was stunned by a shock 102 – 90 defeat to the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers in front of a sell-out crowd here at the Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday. The game kept going back-and-forth as the momentum constantly switched sides, but the Cavs bench
put in 33 points to send the Miami Heat packing.
J.J.Hickson was the star for the Cavs as he put in 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, followed by Anthony Parker who went 7-for-9 from the field to rack-up 20 points on the night.
With the Cavaliers shooting 56 percent from the floor, they took a 71 -48 lead at 5:06 mark in the third quarter.
The Miami Heat was faced with the same problem again, as they failed to find any solid scoring contributions from its bench. Lebron James had another breakout game, recording a triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
Mike Bibby was his usual hot-shooting self as he was 7-of-11 from beyond the arc, on his way to 23 points. Dwyane Wade chipped in with 23.
Cleveland put the Heat in a hole early on and kept putting pressure on Lebron and his minions to stifle them on the offensive end. Chris Bosh looked troubled and just couldn’t seem to put the ball in the basket. The Cavs blocked Bosh numerous times close
to the rim and energized themselves to go on some spirited runs and deflate the Heat in front of a raucous crowd.
Cleveland led 10 – 3 in the first quarter before the Heat fought-back to end the first quarter tied at 24 -24.
The Cavs went on a 13 -2 run in the second period to re-establish a 16 point lead, but the Heat responded with an 8 – 0 run of their own to cut the down the deficit somewhat. Baron Davis buried a jumper from downtown at the buzzer to put Cleveland up 53
-42 heading into the break.
Cleveland stepped on the gas in the third to pull out a 71 -48 lead and it seemed all but over. The Miami Heat was not willing to surrender just yet. They went on a 22 – 4 run in the final 4:45 to cut the deficit to 75 -70 at the end of the third. Dwayne
Wade was fired-up as he added 10 straight points during that run, followed by seven-straight points from Lebron to bring the Heat back into the contest.
Mike Bibby heated-up in the fourth to bury three huge 3-pointers in the first five minutes, and leveled the game at 83 – 83. Cleveland then responded with a 12 – 0 run, which served as a knockout-punch for the Miami Heat.
Cleveland held on for a 102 – 90 win as the crowd went ballistic at the Q.
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