LeBron & Heat Continue Rolling
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Miami Heat needed double-overtime to knock out the Sacramento Kings, but thanks to a season-best performance from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade; the Heat pulled out a 141-129 victory Tuesday night.
The 141 points tied a Heat franchise record that was last hit in 1991. Wade tied a career high with 19 field goals in the game and James finished off the month of February as the best shooting month of his career.
In the game, LeBron shot 61 percent from the field and 92 percent from the free throw line en route to 40 points, eight rebounds, and an eye-popping 16 assists in the Kings game. Not to be outdone, Wade finished shooting 68 percent from the field and scored 39 points, had eight rebounds, and seven assists.
"Some great stat lines tonight," James said. "But I'm happy I was able to do what I did and help our team win."
Ray Allen came off the bench to hit 50 percent of his three-pointers and scored 21 points, with four rebounds and three assists. Chris Bosh also got into the action scoring 15 points, grabbing eight rebounds, handing out two assists and blocking four shots.
Finally, even the newest Heat player, Chris Andersen, contributed 10 points, 3 rebounds, and one blocked shot.
Overall, the Heat shot 55.4 percent from the field and 79.2 percent from the free throw line. The Heat also had 35 assists to just 12 turnovers in the game, a nearly 3-1 margin.
"They've got a couple of guys that can turn the notch up pretty quickly," Kings coach Keith Smart said. "LeBron and Dwyane played an incredible game. It took a Superman-type game from both of those guys."
Kings coach Keith Smart said before the game that sometimes "great teams get a little bored with the regular season and they need something to get them going."
The Heat didn't seem to be bored by the second overtime.
After a late non-call that James wanted, he simply seemed mad.
James scored inside to open the second extra session, yelling "and one" at referees as his way of insisting he was fouled as well. But after one sensational sequence, the game was pretty much sealed.
"We're coming together," James said. "We're doing it the right way. We're executing offensively. We're sharing the ball. And we're not getting rattled. We've been in some crazy games. We just stay the course and figure out a way to get the victory."
With each passing game, the Heat moves another step closer to the playoffs and the ability to rest James, Wade, Bosh and possibly Allen down the stretch. Still, the Heat are 12-0 to close out the month of February and head into March as the hottest team in the NBA.
The 12-game winning streak is the second-best in team history behind a 14-game winning streak a few years ago. Getting to 14 will be tough for the Heat which has a home game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday and then head to New York to battle the Knicks on Sunday.
If Miami can win both of those games, it will look to set the franchise record for consecutive wins in Minneapolis against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Miami is currently in first place in the Eastern Conference, six games ahead of second-place Indiana. Miami's win on Tuesday night improved its home record to 25-3 on the season.
But if you're planning on going to see the Heat play at home, it might be best to get there a little bit early if you want to see the best show of the night. LeBron has been putting on a dunking clinic in recent weeks during warm-ups that have left fans and teammates speechless.
It's definitely worth fighting through traffic to get to the AAA early to see just how good of a dunker LeBron can be with almost minimal effort.
Here's what he did ahead of a recent game to wow the crowd in warm-ups.
