In the second minute of play, LeBron James caught an alley-oop pass from beyond half court and the result was a thunderous slam. This was how the two-time reigning MVP started the night and by the time he finished, slipping two from the free throw line down
the stretch, the match was already over.
The sensational James playing without the company of his buddy and team-mate Dwyane Wade, again proved to the world that he is the best there is, as he jammed his way to 36 points, 6 boards and 4 assists.
And he was not alone.
The third cog of the Big Three, Chris Bosh also had a phenomenal outing as he bludgeoned the new-look Phoenix Suns with 23 points and 11 rebounds en-route to an eighth consecutive away win for Miami Heat.
The 18,442 strong expectant crowd got the first look of their new team on Thursday as Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus hit the floor. The duo had little impact though as they combined for 6 points and accounted for three turnovers.
The Phoenix suns did not seem like a team that needed re-enforcements as the old boys did the job, propelling the home team to a 21-10 lead within the first eight minutes of play. Despite going down by 11 points early, James continued one-man assault from
Miami. He scored 11 points in the first quarter and capped it with layup shot to help Miami pull within three 4 seconds from the buzzer.
Chris Bosh stepped up to party in the second quarter as Miami turned on the heat to reel off a 19-5 run midway through the second frame. Bosh scored seven points in the spurt as the Heat took a 45-39 advantage to the halftime.
The Miami assault did not end there as James, Bosh and Carlos Arroyo combined to bombard another 20-12 run, guiding the Heat to their biggest advantage of the match, at 65-51 midway through the third quarter.
Jared Dudley, who scored 14 points in the first half sprung back for the Suns as he scored five points on the trot to slash the Miami lead. But the Heat were not in a mood to bow down as they finished the penultimate period with a 7-1 run to take a 72-59
lead into the final quarter.
James took over the fourth quarter, scoring 13 points, as the Heat never allowed the Suns within 9 points and romped to a 95-83 victory.
For Phoenix, Jared Dudley scored 33 points and Steve Nash had 18 assists but took just four shots and scored four points as the Suns lost their sixth of the last eight games.
The next stop for Miami will be Los Angeles on Christmas.
With LeBron and Bosh at full throttle and the swash-buckling Wade to join the party on Saturday after a knee ailment, the stage is set for one of the most epic battles of the season, as the titans of the of the Eastern Conference take on the two time defending
champions Los Angeles Lakers.
Tags: