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Bosh steps up to sink Cavs
Photo
Cleveland Cavaliers’ Anderson Varejao dunks in front of Miami Heat’s LeBron James (6) during the first half of a game Tuesday in Miami.
Associated Press
MIAMI
LeBron James was not at his best, and a game against his former team was slipping away.
Chris Bosh made sure that didn’t happen.
Bosh scored 17 points in the fourth quarter — the biggest final period by any Miami player this season — and finished with a game-high 35 points, carrying the Heat to a 92-85 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. Bosh shot 10 for 16 and reached the 30-point mark for the fourth time this season as Miami improved to 4-1 against Cleveland since James joined the Heat.
“Whenever I play and I don’t hesitate, good things happen,” Bosh said.
He was all about the points down the stretch, literally and figuratively. The 17-point final quarter matched the third-best of his career, and he capped the night with a pair of finger-wags — one at one of his shots as it hovered on the rim before falling to begin a three-point play, the other at wife Adrienne after his jumper fell for an 84-76 lead and finally allowed Miami to exhale.
“I think he made the biggest adjustment with this whole situation,” James said, referring to the moves that allowed he, Bosh and Dwyane Wade — who sat out again with a sprained right ankle — to team up in July 2010. “He’s done it before.”
The 35 points matched Bosh’s high since joining Miami.
Kyrie Irving — Cleveland’s No. 1 overall draft pick and heir apparent after James as the face of the Cavs’ franchise — scored 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Samardo Samuels made his first seven shots and finished with 15 points for the Cavs, who got an 11-point, 11-rebound night from Anderson Varejao and 10 points from Ramon Sessions.
“We kind of beat ourselves tonight,” Irving said. “We had 22 turnovers and we lost by seven points.”
Former Cleveland State star Norris Cole scored 10 for Miami, and Udonis Haslem grabbed 10 rebounds for the Heat. Miami committed 18 turnovers, leading to 22 Cleveland points, but found a way — thanks to Bosh — down the stretch.
“Finally in the last three to four minutes, the ball started the move,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Bosh made his sixth 3-pointer of the year with 4:26 left, giving the Heat some long-awaited breathing room at 75-67.