Heat blowout Cavs in final leg of lengthy road trip

The Miami Heat wrapped up their 6-game road trip in style, blowing out the host Cleveland Cavaliers 111-87. A chorus of boo's rained down on LeBron James, but that didn't stop him from dropping a game high 28-points on his former team. 16 of those 28 points came in the 3^rd quarter, pushing Miami's lead all the way up to 34 points.

While the Cavs faithful didn't hesitate to show their distain for James during the game, it seemed that all was forgiven after the final buzzer. LeBron even went as far to shake hands with fans sitting around the Heat bench, throw his headband into the stands and high-five with people reaching out for him as he came off the court. Obviously there is still some love for the hometown star despite all the jeers.

This game was all Miami from start to finish. They bolted out to an 11-0 lead and expanded it to 21-2, eventually ending the opening quarter with a 21-point lead. Dwyane Wade chipped in with 22 points of his own, including his first 3-pointer of the season. Miami also got 10-points from Norris Cole, who yesterday was added to the roster of the Rising Star Challenge which is part of the NBA's All-Star Weekend.

Speaking of All-Star Weekend, there were reports before the game that Mario Chalmers would be inactive due to an injured hand, but those proved to be inaccurate. Chalmers ended up having a very productive game, scoring 14 points and adding another four 3-pointers to his growing season total. Three of those came in succession during the latter stages of the first quarter.

GAME NOTES

• The Cavs were led by rookie Kyrie Irving, who scored a team-high 17 points.
• Miami is averaging 62.2 points in the first half of their last four games.
• The Heat started out by hitting 8 of their first 12 shots from downtown. They finished 14-of-21 from beyond the arc.
• Miami also went 17-for-20 from the charity stripe.
• Chris Bosh picked up his 8^th double double of the season, and his 3^rd in 5 games.
• We have a James Jones sighting! He played 9 minutes, scoring 9 points on a pair of triples and 3 free throws.
• The Heat shot 50.6% from the field while holding Cleveland to just 39.5%.
• Even in the blowout, Miami scored just 12 fast break points.

The Heat finally get to return home, and they do it on the 5-game winning streak. Next up for Miami is a rematch with division rival Orlando, who handed a the Heat a loss in the first game of their road trip.