The Miami Heat made it 24 in a row as LeBron James returned to Cleveland with a vengeance. The Cavaliers dominated the first half and the beginning of the second half before King James and Company caught fire and overcame a 27 point deficit to take the victory 98-95. Who made the winning buckets… who else?
Miami is now only nine games away from tying the longest winning streak in the history of the NFL. The Los Angeles Lakers won 33 in a row back in the 1971-1972 season. Even now, the Heat, with 24 straight, are in second place.
Although LeBron and the rest of his teammates have repeatedly stated that the streak record is not one of their goals… you know that it has to be on their minds. What professional basket ball player wouldn’t like to be on the team that broke the Lakers 40 year old record?
Playing in Cleveland on a cold Wednesday night, the Heat seemed sluggish and a bit disinterested during the first half of the contest against the former team mates of LeBron still playing with the Cavaliers. With just 7:44 left in the third quarter, Miami found itself trailing 67-40. This was their biggest deficit of the year and it appeared that the streak would end at 23.
But the Heat rallied behind their dynamic duo of James and Wade and began to pick away at the Cleveland lead by hitting an incredible series of three point baskets that cut the lead to a manageable number by the middle of the fourth quarter.
But behind the irrepressible James, who added 12 rebounds and 10 assists, the Heat inched closer to history by matching the biggest comeback in the NBA this season, according to stats.
It was a valiant effort by Cleveland against the Heat machine especially since they were without their three top scorers in Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Anderson Varejao. The Cavs most definitely got the attention of Heat fans across the country who watched on in disbelief for the first 3 quarters of the game.
Even after their extraordinary comeback, Miami could not really relax until James sank two clutch free throws with just 4.7 seconds to play. Even then C.J. Miles took a shot from 3 point range at the buzzer….but the try went long and the Heat extended their run to 24 straight. The Heat is on!
