LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh help Miami Heat beat Sacramento Kings 117-97 (Part–1)
Falling behind by 19 points early in the piece against a team of Miami Heat’s calibre is a tough enough task to recover from for any team in the league, let alone the short-handed minnows of the NBA, the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings were playing without Tyreke Evans, who is expected to miss at least three more weeks with an injured left foot. Carl Landry was missing too for Sacramento on account of his expected move to the New Orleans Hornets. The Kings looked shaky without
their two star players and were blown away by a 35-16 run in the first 12 minutes of the game.
The rest of the game was a mere procession of layup drills and jumpers, as the Heat romped to a 117-97 win over the Kings.
Coming into the match, the Heat had several things to worry about. This was their first game after the All-Star break, which meant a bit of cross-country travel fatigue for LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. They will also be worried about their looming
big-time matchups against the Chicago Bulls and new-look New York Knicks in the ensuing days.
In addition to that, a good start to the second half of the season, a place at the summit of the Eastern Conference and a best start through 57 games in the history of the franchise were all at stake. With so much hinging on one single game, the pressure
was on Miami to perform.
They did it in style.
After an unsuccessful All-Star game in which he scored a triple-double, LeBron James vented his anger on the Kings. Shooting at a red hot 14-of-26 from the field, James finished with a game-high 31 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
His buddy, Dwyane Wade wasn’t far behind either. Wade showed no signs of an ankle injury that he suffered when Deron Williams inadvertently undercut him during the All-Star game. The prolific shooting guard scored 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds and seven
steals.
James said after the match, "Me and D-Wade talked before the game ... and said 'Let's go out and dominate this game,"
The third resounding performance of the night unsurprisingly came from the final pivot of Miami’s big three, Chris Bosh. In nearly 35 minutes of play, Bosh scored 22 points - narrowly missing a double-double with nine boards - and also chipped in with a
game-high four steals.
An excited Bosh told reporters, "We know what we have to get better at ... Against a team like this, we respect them. This is the NBA; you can get beat any night. So we had to come out with the necessary energy and the necessary focus to put them away and
get them down early and keep them there."
James, Wade and Bosh were not the only one who impressed on the night though. Mario Chalmers, the Heat guard who has come under heavy criticism from all quarters for his lacklustre performances of late, responded with probably his best effort of the season.
He chipped in with 14 points, but more importantly found his shot opportunities within the offence. Chalmers finished with an impressive 6-for-7 from the field and also dished out four assists. Eddie House also finished with 10 points.
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