Miami
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
The Miami Heat put the hurt on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers last night, trouncing them good and plenty 100-88last night behind Shaquille O'Neal's 26 points and 12 rebounds and a stellar performance by Keyon Dooling off the bench. The Cavs tried to burst through while Shaq was on the bench in foul trouble and though James got himself a highlight dunk, Dwyane Wade's highlight Jordanesque hand-switching layup will be remembered more because it was part of a winning effort.
Shaq cleaned up, especially on the offensive boards, where he grabbed seven. For perspective, the entire Cleveland team, one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league, grabbed a total of 11. That's Shaq for you. Meanwhile Wade was amazing as always, hanging in the air until he figured out what he needed to do to score. He had one move where he jumped into Zydrunas Ilgauskas, looking to draw a foul, but, not getting the contact or the call, switched the ball from his right hand to his left to scoop what can only be described as a layup even though it was on a much higher plane of existence than that over the outstretched arms of the 7-foot-4 Ilgauskas.
Dooling sparked the subs with 13 points in 19 minutes, mainly in the second quarter. Every Heat starter had three assists except for Eddie Jones, who had two. Damon Jones, meanwhile, was on the receiving end of the breakaway dunk by LeBron James, earning himself a poster somewhere. Damon did not have a particularly effective game, getting just three assists, three rebounds, two turnovers, and two fouls (no points) in 29 minutes. Nevertheless, the more important thing is he didn't have a bad shooting night: he simply didn't attempt a single field-goal or free-throw. When you have Shaq and Wade on your team, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
NEXT GAME
The Miami Heat (34-14, first in the Southeast) rest tonight and host the Chicago Bulls (22-21, third in the Central) tomorrow. The game starts at 7:30pm Eastern and will be broadcast on Sun Sports and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
Not surprisingly, Shaquille O'Neal was named to his 12th All-Star appearance.
INJURY UPDATE
Christian Laettner(foot),Wesley Person(knee), andMalik Allen(back) are all on the injured list.Qyntel Woods(suspension) is now eligible to return.
Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes inThe Desert Sun: Shaquille O'Neal had 26 points and 12 rebounds, and the Miami Heat overcame 31 points and 10 assists from All-Star LeBron James to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 100-88 on Thursday night.O'Neal, named an All-Star for the 12th time earlier in the day, scored eight points in the fourth quarter to help the Eastern Conference-leading Heat send Cleveland to its fourth loss in five road games.
The Chicago Tribunewrites: The prospect of Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant reuniting in Los Angeles wouldn't surprise Shaquille O'Neal.Jackson is being mentioned as a candidate to replace Rudy Tomjanovich as the Lakers' coach after Tomjanovich resigned Wednesday, citing stress and health reasons. played the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night, O'Neal said he'll wish Jackson well if his old coach returns to his old job. "I'm not surprised, because he's like the only one that's left," O'Neal said. "He knows the system. He has a relationship with the system. He'll probably get a great deal, great money and I wish him well." O'Neal said he doesn't take satisfaction from watching another circus develop around the Lakers.
Branson Wright ofThe Cleveland Plain Dealerwrites: Apparently, it didn't matter as the Cavs (26-19) have now lost three out of the their last four games. The loss also dropped the Cavs 1½ games behind the first-place Detroit Pistons in the Central Division. It was also the Cavs' fifth consecutive loss to the Heat in Miami.James led the Cavs with 31 points and 10 assists.