By John Ricardo
Having put aside any nostalgia or his homecoming of sorts, LeBron James was a man on a mission.
James greeted fans standing behind the bench and handed away his headband to a young admirer before vanishing into the locker room. As he departed from the floor that was once his, he skipped down the runway, slapping outstretched hands across the way. James' time had come to go back to Miami and run down an NBA title.
James scored 28 points in his third game back in Cleveland as a visitor, while Dwyane Wade added 22 for the Heat, which ended a six-game road trip with their fifth consecutive victory yesterday, 111-87 against the Cavaliers.
As his once-fans- who haven't seem to forgotten that he left them two years ago- jeered every time he dropped the ball,, James scored 16 in the third quarter where the Heat opened with a 34-point lead. He had four dunks, three 3-pointers, five rebounds, five assists, and sat out the whole of the final quarter. With this game, the Heat has won eight of nine games, and went 5-1 on its trip, winning by an average of 18.8 points.
James said, "The way we won these last five games was very impressive. We went on the road and won by double digits in each of those games and in some hostile environments. It was definitely a big road trip for us, six games in 10 days. We took care of business."
There was simply no let going of the Cavaliers, for whom rookie Kyrie Irving scored 17 points and Ramon Sessions added another 15. The loss perturbed their coach Byron Scott , as his team fell behind by 23 in the first quarter and wasn't able to bridge the gap. Scott said, "We looked like we were frightened. I said at halftime, 'It boggles my mind that you are scared of another man'."
He was speaking of James, who toyed with the Cavs and silenced a sell-out crowd who had come to scream at him, who had thrilled them for seven seasons. But it was James who made more noise than the spectators.
Heat coach Eric Spoelstra commented, "He's been playing at an MVP level all season. He's arguably playing the best ball of his career. He's playing as well as anyone in the league."
Miami's trip ended with a blowing performance at either end against the Cavs, who rode them hard in the two prior losses this season. In the first quarter, the Heat led 11-0, 21-2, 29-8 and 35-14.
Overall on the trip, the Heat also won three games in three nights, with which they became the first team since the 1979-80 Phoenix Suns to do so. With Tuesday's 15-point win at Indiana, Miami also became the first team since 1970 when Milwaukee claimed victory in three consecutive road games by 10 points or more.
Having spent the past two days staying at his mansion in adjacent Bath, James surely was a tad nostalgic. In fact, he, on Thursday expressed the possibility of returning to the Cavs before his career wound to an end. But for now, his plans are to win championships for the Heat.
With Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert court-side, James and the Heat opened with a huge lead in no time. The first 11 points of the game were scored by Miami, who pushed its lead to 25-5 when James conduced a one-handed dunk. Later in the quarter, James and Mario Chalmers hit consecutive three's, as the Heat opened a 21-point lead after one.
The Heat then pushed their lead to 27 on a three by Wade, with which Miami went 8-of-12 from long range in opening a 63-38 lead. In the third, James had 7-0 run which he started with a pair of free throws. Then came a dunk and after that a three. He said, "We took the crowd right out of it. That was big. It was a good way to start the game."
This was James' third Cleveland Trip as a Heat player, and predictably, some nerves were ticked. Some people were irked with James in northeast Ohio and South Florida after his Thursday comments that he said he could envision a return to the Cavs at some point.
James had said, "I think it would be great. It would be fun to play in front of these fans again. And if I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me." Clearly. Miami fans did not appreciate such sentiments, but James clarified himself later on.
James, who will have the opportunity to opt-out of his contract after the 2014 season, said, "I love the fans of Miami. I'm here. The question was asked of me, could I see myself playing back here. I said yeah, in the sense of I don't know what my future holds and I don't want to take that out. I've got everything thing invested with this team. I'm looking forward to the years to come."
But Yahoo! Sports reported that James has been using messengers to tell Gilbert that he wants to return to Cleveland in three years. Commenting on the report, James said, "Not true, not true at all."
