BOX SCORE
By Zac Jackson
FOX Sports Ohio
December 2, 2010
CLEVELAND -- It was LePocalypse.
The Cavaliers were little more than witnesses.
The biggest night of the Cavaliers season turned into the worst case scenario. LeBron James dominated and smiled. The Cavaliers couldn't keep up. A raucous crowd screamed itself hoarse but left feeling it had been kicked. Again.
The final: Heat 118, Cavaliers 90 -- with the nation watching, at least for a while. James scored 38, which was 10 more than the Cavaliers' starting five got in total.
It was a 19-point game at halftime and got to as much as 38 in the third quarter. James yapped at the Cavaliers' sideline, laughed at the crowd's chants when he was at the free throw line and spent the fourth quarter resting and watching. His 24 third-quarter points were a Quicken Loans Arena record.
The Cavaliers had no response on the court. The players had little to say in the locker room postgame. Early Friday morning, owner Dan Gilbert posted this on Twitter: "Words don't express my feelings so I won't even try. Know this: There's nothing U are feeling that I'm not. The best B-Ball player ever once said: "My pain was my motivation"....And so it will be with us..."
The Cavaliers committed 13 turnovers, watched Dwyane Wade attack the basket and searched for a combination that might work. None did. Daniel Gibson hit four 3-pointers en route to a team-high 21 points, but Mo Williams was the only starter to reach double figures, at 11. An early surge of energy was highlighted by two J.J. Hickson dunks, but Hickson finished with just 9 points. The Heat went on a 16-0 run in the first quarter and won the middle two quarters, 64-42.
"My fear was we'd be out there going too fast, turning the ball over and things like that," Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said. "That's exactly what we did."
Maybe the Cavaliers were caught in the moment, but for much of the night they looked they were caught on the train tracks. Wade jumped into passing lanes and started fast breaks. James made jumpshots, drove to the basket without opposition and blocked out the crowd and other outside distractions involved with his first game against the Cavaliers.
"I thought LeBron played great, but I'm not really worried about him," Scott said. "I'm worried about us."
For good reason. Just like they did in Tuesday's loss to the Celtics, the Cavaliers started fast but then sputtered, got beat around the basket and couldn't keep up. Scott said after the game he wasn't discouraged, but the players certainly were.
"This was a letdown," Williams said. "It hurts."
Wade had 22 points, 9 assists, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. James Jones had 18 points off the bench, including five 3-pointers.
The Heat made 10 3-pointers and had 30 assists on their 47 baskets. The Cavaliers shot 27-of-76, good for 35.5 percent.
