LeBron James leads the Miami Heat to a 108–94 win over the New Jersey Nets
LeBron James finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, as the Miami Heat beat the New Jersey Nets 108–94 at the Prudential Centre in New Jersey on Sunday. The Heat dominated the game from the start to record their third-straight win and clinch
the Southeast division title.
The Heat shot 56 percent and dominated the Nets in the painted block with a 60–30 advantage to tip the game in their favour, not that they needed to do so, with LeBron there to handle business.
The 6ft 8in Heat forward was his usual phenomenal self, as he set the tone early in the first quarter by adding 15 points in the first 12 minutes of play with a variety of slick moves. James had nine points on consecutive possessions for the Heat during
a minute and a half stretch to put the game away in the very start.
Nets guard Deron Williams praised James after the game. He said, "He's one of those players who's impossible to guard by himself. He started out the game posting up, scored a couple times. He got out in transition, scored a couple times. We tried to double
him but he's such a good passer and he was picking us apart out there. I mean, it's tough."
Williams had 18 points and 12 assists to lead the charge for the New Jersey Nets. Miami led 32–18 heading into the second period.
The Heat picked up right where they left off in the second quarter, but his time it was the Lithuanian Centre Zydrunas Ilgauskas who starred for Miami. Ilgauskas led the Heat with 10 points in the quarter and gave Miami a 58–44 lead at the half time break.
In an otherwise carefree game for the Heat, the low-point came in the first quarter, when Dwyane Wade bruised his thigh during a collision with Travis Outlaw. He went out of the game in the second quarter to receive treatment in the locker room. Luckily
for Miami, Wade returned to the game and played the second half.
Wade told reporters after the game, "I just wanted to play. I couldn't hurt it any more, unless I got kneed again. I thought I was pretty effective helping my team get a victory. I just wanted to play basketball, one leg or not."
Wade finished with 18 points in 27 minutes on the floor. The Heat turned the ball over five times in the third period to allow the Nets to get back into the game. New Jersey outscored Miami 25-19 in the third to cut Miami's lead to 77-69 with 18.8 seconds
to go.
Brook Lopez converted two free-throws to make it a six-point game with less than eight minutes to go in the game, but Miami proved too strong as they closed the game out with a 31-point last quarter.
Miami totally outplayed the Nets in all aspects of the game, including outrebounding them by a 50–30 margin. The only crack in the Heat’s armoury was the number of turnovers they committed. James led the way with seven slip-ups, as 15 of the Heat’s possessions
ended without a shot.
Chris Bosh put up 16 points and pulled in seven rebounds, while Eric Dampier recorded a double-double with 10 points and 14 boards. Miami’s replacements contributed 28 points, led by Ilgauskas with 11. James Jones went 3-of-4 from behind the arc to chip
in with 10 points.
The Heat recorded their eighth win in nine games with this 14 point victory over New Jersey.
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