LeBron James drops 32 points, sinking Houston`s playoff hopes along the way as the Miami Heat defeat Houston Rockets 97-88....
On Sunday night at the American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL, the visiting Houston Rockets saw an end to their playoff hopes as they lost to the Miami Heat 97-88.
With Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh out of the Miami line up, Houston did have a chance to win and they hung tough in the first three quarters.
However, the Rockets were unable to contain LeBron James in the closing stages. This is the third consecutive season; the Rockets are going to be missing the playoffs.
James, with added responsibility on his shoulders, responded greatly as he finished with a game-high of 32 points, 5 assists and 8 rebounds. Rookie guard, Norris Cole was the second starter with double figure scores at 16 points.
Joel Anthony and Mike Miller led the bench scoring for the Heat, contributing 11 points each and sharing 12 boards in the game. Shane Battier also came off the bench to add 9 points and 5 steals.
For the Rockets, rookie Chandler Parsons was the leading scorer 23 points on a 10 for 13 shooting including three triples. Goran Dragic also played well to contribute 16 points. Courtney Lee and Luis Scola scored 14 and 12 points
respectively while Patrick Patterson came off the bench to add 14.
On the night, Heat out-rebounded the Rockets 48-37, 17 of which came on the offensive end of the court. Miami also made their presence felt inside the paint, outscoring Houston 40-34.
Houston came out of blocks early in this one as they raced to a 9-2 lead. At the 4:41 mark, the Rockets were able to extend their advantage into double-figures, 21-10. However, behind James`s 10 points in the opening period, Miami
were able to end the quarter with a score of 22-27.
Rockets started the second quarter in similar fashion to the first as they put together a 7-0 run to take the lead back to double figures, 34-24. The next few minutes went by with the Heat looking to cut the lead and the Rockets
responding every time. With 6:59 to go in the break, Houston led by 38-28
However the home side were not going out that easy. In the next several minutes they were able to put together a 9-0 to cut the lead down to only 1 point. 37-38. Miami were able to get a 45-44 lead at half.
The scores remained close in the third quarter and at the 9:35 mark, Miami led 50-49. The Rockets responded back with an 8-0 to take lead 57-50. Houston were able to stretch their lead to as much as 9 but the Heat, behind Battier
and James, were able to cut the lead back to 3 before the game entered into the final quarter, 66-69.
Inside the first three minutes of the final quarter the scores were all level at 71-each. But the Rockets had much more at stake in this one as they managed to formulate together another run of 8-2 to take the lead 79-73.
Heat responded immediately with 6 quick unanswered points to tie the game up at 79. The scores were tied again at 81 with 3:51 remaining and after the next two possessions there was still no separating the two teams.
In the next several minutes, James and Miller hit back to back threes for the Heat to pull away at the score of 89-83. James nailed the final blow to Houston`s season as he dunked the ball at the 57.1 mark to make it a 8 point
game.
Miami were able to extend their advantage to as much as 12 by holding their nerve from the free throw line. In the end, Heat were able to take this one to win by a margin of 9.
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