NBA Miami gets first victory as the Cavaliers' road woes continue

MIAMI (AP) -- As far as celebrations go, this one was relatively tame and brief. Still, it was one the Miami Heat desperately needed.
The Heat became the final NBA team to get their first win, beating LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 88-83 on Wednesday night.
It was also the first win for Heat coach Stan Van Gundy, whose players marked the occasion by presenting him with the game ball in the locker room.
"It hasn't really sunk in," Van Gundy said. "Seriously, right now, I'm happy for myself. I'm not going to lie and say I'm not. I'm really happy for our team because they've continued to work. Our practices have been incredible. There's a lot of character in there."
Eddie Jones scored 25 points and Lamar Odom added 14 points and 10 assists for Miami, which lost its first seven games -- the franchise's worst start since going 0-17 to open its inaugural season, 1988-89.
James had 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting for Cleveland, which lost its 26th straight road game since February and failed in its bid for its first three-game winning streak since April 2002. Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 20 points for the Cavaliers (2-6) and Carlos Boozer had a game-high 16 rebounds.
Couldn't convert
Cleveland had plenty of chances down the stretch, as Miami scored only two points in the final 4 minutes, 26 seconds.
"We got a lot of stops," James said. "That shows we're improving. We just didn't convert."
James was stifled on three key possessions, first committing an offensive foul while driving with 2:08 to go, then getting a shot blocked by Udonis Haslem with 1:25 remaining. James also failed to handle a quick pass from Ilgauskas with 18.5 seconds to go, committing Cleveland's eighth turnover of the final quarter.
"Our worst fears were realized," Cleveland coach Paul Silas said. "You're coming in with a team that has not won at all and they were going to fight and scratch and do whatever it took to win. We were just a step slow all night long."
Cleveland further hurt itself by making only 17 of 30 free throws.
Dwyane Wade added 14 points and Rafer Alston had 10 for Miami, which shot 45.5 percent, their second-best effort this season.
Miami held Cleveland to one field goal in the final 6:52 of the third quarter, turning a 61-60 deficit into a 72-65 lead entering the final period.
Pulling away
Wade made two big plays to fuel the quarter-ending burst. He rose well above the rim to block James' layup attempt with 5:15 remaining in the third, sparking a fast-break basket by Haslem for a 66-61 edge.
With 1:09 to go in the quarter, Wade rebounded his own missed baseline jumper and put down a two-handed dunk to give Miami a 72-64 lead -- its biggest of the game to that point.
"When you're losing basketball games, you play more and more tentative because you don't want to make any mistakes," said Miami's Caron Butler, who scored six points in 19 minutes. "Once you start winning, you become more and more comfortable."
In the fourth, any chance Cleveland had to rally was taken away by turnovers. James was wide open from 18 feet with 4:35 remaining, but never got the chance to shoot after the Cavaliers were whistled for a three-second violation. On Miami's next trip, Jones made a 3-pointer from the right wing for an 86-77 lead.
But Miami made things interesting down the stretch, missing its last five shots and making two turnovers in the final 3:38.