While it was freezing outside the Quicken Loans Arena, the forecast inside it was a blizzard of boos.
In the hours leading up to tip-off, everyone with their fingers crossed, seemed to have an opinion. Even the nation’s highest-rated basketball player President Barack Obama jumped in the drama with a short, simple, and not-so-sweet
opine:
“It’s going to be brutal.”
That coming from a guy who had just gotten 12 stitches removed after getting his lip split open in a rough hoops game.
The game meant the world to the Cleveland loyal who felt scorned after LeBron James embarrassed them on national broadcast by saying he was taking his talents to the South Beach to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. They had been
gearing up for this moment for the last five months and when it arrived they really let James have it.
Boos and vulgar obscenities it was, as LeBron James, the Akron native who once used to be the toast of Cleveland, returned in front of more than a 20,000 strong hostile crowd.
James had said prior to the game that for him his homecoming was just a game and he will go all out to win it for Miami. The two time reigning MVP entered the arena with the back of his jacket reading ‘Time to Roll’ and he soon
showed to all the world that he meant every word of what he said as he ripped through the defenses of Cleveland.
James who against all bets performed his powder ritual in front of an increasingly rowdy crowd showed exactly why he is the best player in the league. He put all the adversities on the backburner as he kept his own and raced to
14 points at the half way mark.
“It’s all right,” James said of the jeers at half time. “I understand how passionate these fans are. I’ve got a lot of love for these fans, but I’m a Miami Heat player now looking to get this win.”
For the home fans though who were determined to take their annoyance with James to a new level on Thursday night, this was just a sign of things to come.
The superstar displayed his destructive best, hitting the pace in the third quarter as he gave the Cleveland defense a thrashing they will definitely not forget any time soon, nailing 22 points on the way to make a defining statement
in the match.
James did not return for the fourth and he didn’t need to as he had already sealed the fate of the match.
James return to Cleveland was a moment that everyone was waiting for and on the night James displayed to the entire world that it is the not the words, it’s the actions on the court that do the trick. He grasped the court with
38 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds in only 30:02 minutes of play as the Miami Heats thumped the scorned Cavaliers 118-90.
And King James decreed after the match.
"We came in here with one goal and that was to win a basketball game, and we did that," he said. "This was our most complete game of the season from start to finish."
James not only put his demons behind him but also showcased the very firepower of the Miami offense that has been missing in the season so far. Erik Spoelstra, jubilant after seeing his team live up to its potential said.
"It was a great collective effort," said Coach Erik Spoelstra. "This is the first time I have seen this connection all year long."
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