LeBron James pounds 37 as Miami Heat crush Dallas Mavericks 105-94: NBA Recap
The Miami Heat are the team to look out for this season. They have one of the best front court combinations seen for some time and they defend like their life depended on it.
Last season, they looked set to win it all, but a team by the name of Dallas Mavericks came in their way and what followed was a barrage of criticism and loads of vilification for the Heat.
That team again stood in front of them on Sunday, in one of the most anticipated encounters on Christmas night.
The Mavs started off by raising their championship banner and as it went to the rafters, the Heat seethed in the other part of the building. James in particular has meaningful look on his face and as the game tipped off, he erupted.
LeBron started off with a reverse layup, and minutes later after Dwyane Wade made a similar basket for a two, he rammed the rim on a Mario Chalmers dish to make it 9-3. By the time the game ended, James had pounded 37 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, handed 6 assists, made two steal and swatted two blocks.
And he was not alone.
Wade followed with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. No other member of the Heat side made it to the double figure; they didn’t need to. The Heat were leading by 15 after 12 minutes and pushed their lead to 21 by the break. They then went berserk early in the third quarter, scoring 14 without a response, to take their lead to 78-43, the biggest of the game.
Dirk Nowitzki made good on two consecutive possessions after that to initiate an 11-4 run, but by then it had already become too late. The third quarter closed out with the Heat leading by 97-65 and looking set for a win.
That prompted coach Erik Spoelstra to test his bench strength. They couldn’t muster enough resistance against the Mavs and were out done 29-8: even the 8 Miami points came from James and Wade. Chris Bosh was a non entity in the game and finished with 4 points on a 2-of-7 shooting. Udonis Haslem scored 9 points and grabbed 14 on the glass while James Jones also knocked down 3-of-5 from downtown for 9.
The Mavs were never in the game. Jason Terry led them with 23; Nowitzki had 21 on a 6-of-15 from the floor, Shawn Marion had 12 while David West chipped in with 10 points.
Dallas never led throughout the game, were smashed 51-31 on the boards and 31-10 on the fast break points, and shot only 37.8 percent from the floor. Miami in contrast, shot 48.7 from the field, including 57.1 in the first three frames.
Spoelstra was a happy man after the game and capped a night with as emphatic a statement as Miami’s performance;
"It's not about last year's storyline. It's not about anything else other than trying to establish our season on the right note. And obviously I think we did that for the most part."
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