Miami Heat's Udonis Haslem, left, and LeBron James, right, block a shot by Cleveland Cavaliers' Dion Waiters, center, during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 18, 2014, in Cleveland. Miami defeated Cleveland 100-96. (AP Photo)
CLEVELAND, March 19 (AP): LeBron James scored 43 points — 25 in a bewildering first-quarter shooting display — and Chris Bosh added 21, leading the Miami Heat to a 100-96 win Tuesday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who played their first game without injured All-Star guard Kyrie Irving.
James added two crucial blocks and made six free throws in the final two minutes, and Bosh had a key rejection to lead the Heat to just their third win in eight games. Miami's Dwyane Wade sat out to rest his knees, but the Heat's two other megastars picked up the slack and put away the Cavs.
Jarrett Jack scored 22 and Dion Waiters added 17 and 11 assists for Cleveland, which was also without forward Luol Deng (sprained ankle). Irving is expected to miss two weeks with a strained biceps tendon, an injury that further damages the Cavs' fading playoff hopes.
James and the Cavs were tied 25-25 after one. He had 31 points at halftime and 37 after three quarters, but the Heat entered the final 12 minutes tied as they were unable to shake off the Cavs, who shot 60 percent from the floor through three and had all five starters in double figures.
With James content to distribute the ball, Bosh scored nine straight points to put Miami ahead 93-88 with 2:24 remaining. Cleveland cut it to three on a basket by Anderson Varejao and had a chance to get closer but James snuffed a dunk attempt by Spencer Hawes. Just 11 seconds later, Bosh turned away Waiters and James made a pair of free throws to make it 95-90 with 1:06 remaining.
