Heat Burn Star-less Cavaliers

<![CDATA[The Miami Heat defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-92 Saturday night in Miami. The Cavs were without four of their five starters however. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James both rested in addition to the extended absences of JR Smith and Kevin Love. The night after allowing 130 points in a 135-130 win over the Atlanta Hawks, the defense of the Cavaliers was suspect again.

Some scribbles from Saturday's loss in Miami:

  • Since LeBron James’ return to the Cavaliers they have not won a game in Miami, falling to 0-4 in South Beach. The absence of LeBron did not help the cause in this one. The Cavs have lost 11 games in a row in Miami, dating back to when James called South Beach home.
  • The Cavs essentially were able to treat this game as a 48 minute practice session to help incorporate Deron Williams to the team. In his third game, and first start with the team, he contributed 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
  • The newest member of the team, Andrew Bogut is still not with the team. He is expected to make his team debut on Monday at The Q against Miami.
  • With the game in hand late for Miami Rodney McGruder had a put-back dunk over Channing Frye and gave Frye a shove in the back following it. JR Smith took exception to this and had to be held back following the final buzzer. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin captured the video of it, which can be seen here. This is the first time that the Cavs have taken Smith on the road since his thumb surgery in December.
  • Cleveland now falls to 0-5 without James on the floor this season.
  • The Cavs and Heat will square off again on Monday night, this time in Cleveland. With the extracurricular activities tonight, things should be much more interesting during Monday’s game.

Talk to you Monday evening.]]>

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