Wade has big 4th, Heat beats Cavs
12/16/2010MIAMI -- LeBron James had few words for his former Cleveland teammates this time.
Dwyane Wade did more than enough talking with his play.
Wade scored 17 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, James added 21 points and a season-high 13 rebounds, and the Miami Heat won their 10th straight game, holding off the Cavaliers 101-95 Wednesday night.
Chris Bosh scored 16 points for Miami, 2-0 against James' former team. Mario Chalmers had 14 and James Jones added 11 for the Heat.
Miami failed in its quest to be the fourth NBA team ever to win 10 straight games by at least 10 points. Still, the 10-game winning streak -- by any margin -- matched the fourth-longest in Heat history.
Daniel Gibson scored 26 points for Cleveland, which lost its ninth in a row. Anderson Varejao had 18 points and 15 rebounds, Antawn Jamison scored 15 points, and Mo Williams added 13 for the Cavs.
Emotions were nowhere near as high as they were when James appeared in Cleveland for the first time as an opponent on Dec. 2, though there was some tension. At least one skirmish broke out in the stands -- a rare occurrence in Miami -- during the fourth quarter as Miami pulled away.
On the court, there was some flareups as well. Gibson wrapped up James on a fast break in the fourth quarter, the two friends not exchanging a word. And in the opening minutes, Wade was tackled by Joey Graham while dunking after an assist from James. Wade got pulled up by James, then did his arms-flailing, George-Jefferson-styled celebration.
In the end, the story was the same: James left pleased, Cleveland left disappointed. But this one was nothing like the hyped-for-months matchup in Cleveland two weeks ago.
That one was over early.
This one, not even close.
Miami's 14-point lead was down to six when Gibson hit a 3-pointer with 2:09 left, and Jamison's free throws 36 seconds later made it 96-93.
That was Cleveland's last gasp. Gibson missed a 3-pointer over James with 46 seconds left, Williams missed a long try from the left side with 17 ticks remaining, and Miami escaped.
Even the mood when the players took the floor was noticeably different than the Dec. 2 meeting in Cleveland, when both James and members of the team he left behind were criticized for being, at times, a little too chummy with one another.
No pleasantries this time, no hugs, and not much in the way of talking, either.
Wade gave Miami a scare when he took a tumble early in the final period and aggravated his sore left wrist.