MIAMI // Best player. Best game of his career.
LeBron James clearly isn’t ready to concede his MVP award to anyone yet.
Dazzling from inside and out, James put on the best scoring show of his NBA life Monday night, pouring in 61 points – a career high and franchise record – as the Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Bobcats 124-107. It was the eighth straight win for the two-time defending champions, who are starting to roll as the play-offs get near.
James made 22-of-33 shots from the field, including his first eight three-point attempts.
“The man above has given me some unbelievable abilities to play the game of basketball,” James said. “I just try to take advantage of it every night. I got the trust of my teammates and my coaching staff to go in there and let it go.”
His career best had been 56 points, on March 20, 2005, for Cleveland against Toronto. Glen Rice scored 56 to set the Heat record on April 15, 1995, against Orlando.
James had 24 points at halftime, then added 25 in the third quarter. The record-breaker came with 5:46 left, when James spun through three defenders for a layup that fell as he tumbled to the court.
“There was an efficiency to what he was doing,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “The rim looked like an ocean for him.”
Spoelstra walked into his post-game news conference with a confession: He nearly took James out after the third quarter.
Good thing he thought better of that plan.
“He was in a great groove, obviously,” Spoelstra said.
Al Jefferson had 38 points and 19 rebounds for the Bobcats, his huge night merely an afterthought.
This was all about LeBron.
“You take away his 61 points,” Jefferson joked, “and we still had a fighting chance there at the end.”
Yes, even the Bobcats were marvelling at James. He was hitting from everywhere, even a pull-up three-pointer from about 30 feet – Spoelstra joked it was from 40 – late in the third quarter, as the crowd roared and the Heat bench jumped with joy.
“Yeah, that was a designed play,” Spoelstra deadpanned. “We’ve been working on that one for a while.”
That was the moment, James said, when he knew he was in the midst of a special night.
“I felt pretty good in the first half but halftime can always kind of derail things and slow things up,” James said. “But I was able to get things going once again in the third quarter and I knew it could be one of those nights.”
Not “one of those nights.”
Even for James, this was like no other.
Most points in a game. Most field goals in a game. Most points in any quarter in Heat history, with the 25 in the third. Most points in the second half, 37, by any Heat player ever.
“Once he sniffed 60, we knew he was going for it,” Heat forward Shane Battier said. “And the amazing part is the efficiency. Good Lord. Sixty-one on 33 shots, that’s Wilt Chamberlain-esque. That’s pretty amazing. Incredible performance.”
When James checked out with 1:24 left, the entire Heat team met him near midcourt for high-fives and hugs, and the sellout crowd gave him a standing ovation. A second huge roar followed when he waved to the crowd, as “M-V-P” chants rained down.
Charlotte have allowed the two biggest single-game scoring totals in the NBA this season. Carmelo Anthony had 62 points for the New York Knicks against the Bobcats on January 24.
Chris Bosh scored 15 for the Heat, and Toney Douglas added 10.
Chris Douglas-Roberts and Anthony Tolliver each scored 12 for Charlotte.
“If he’s going to shoot the ball like that from that range, there’s nobody that’s going to beat them,” Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said.
Miami were without guard Dwyane Wade, who got a night off to rest. Spoelstra stressed there’s been no setback for Wade, who has been on a knee-maintenance program throughout this season and is averaging 23.5 points on 62 per cent shooting since the All-Star break.
Wade probably didn’t mind sitting for this one. It gave him a courtside seat for the show.
James scored 11 in the first quarter, after which Miami led by three, and added 13 more in the second. His 24-point first half was the highest-scoring opening 24 minutes for the four-time MVP in nearly a year, helping stake the Heat to a 60-54 lead at the break.
Jefferson was up to 26 at that point. He didn’t cool off much after halftime, either.
It just didn’t matter.
James, said Clifford, “was phenomenal.”
There was no way Jefferson or anyone else was keeping up with James, who had to listen to critics in recent weeks say that Kevin Durant’s scoring for Oklahoma City this season shifted the balance of MVP power.
Not so fast.
“Every night I go on the floor I want to be the MVP, of this league, MVP of this team, MVP for me, myself and my family,” James said. “I’ve set a high standard and I have to live by that.”
James made three three-pointers in the first seven minutes of the quarter – he was 6-for-6 from beyond the arc at that point – and when Charlotte bit on his head fake from the top of the key, James coolly found Douglas to set up another three. A tip-in by James followed not long afterward and just like that, the lead was up to 83-63.
Charlotte scored the next six points, but any notion that the game was slipping from Miami’s control was quickly extinguished.
James scored the next six himself, a pair of three-point plays to restore the 20-point edge and give him 43 points, already a season high.
All that was left to see was what he’d finish with.
The answer was history.
“I was happy I was able to make a few plays to help us win,” James said.
OTHER MONDAY RESULTS
Pistons 96, Knicks 85
Second-year centre Andre Drummond scored 17 points and grabbed a career-high 26 rebounds and the Detroit Pistons snapped a four-game losing streak with victory over the Knicks.
Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum each contributed 16 points for the Pistons (24-36).
Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks (21-40), who have lost seven straight and 13 of their last 15, with 28 points.
Nets 96, Bulls 80
The Brooklyn Nets managed to slow down one the NBA’s hottest teams by defeating the Chicago Bulls 96-80.
The loss ended a four-game winning streak by the Bulls (33-27), who entered the contest with victories in nine of their last 10 games.
Deron Williams led the Nets (29-29) with 20 points while guard Joe Johnson was not far behind with 19 to pace Brooklyn’s offence.
Grizzlies 110, Wizards 104
Tayshaun Prince scored a season-high 21 points and guard Mike Conley had 20 as the Memphis Grizzlies ended the Washington Wizards’ six-game winning streak with a victory.
Forward Zach Randolph had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies (34-25), who improved to nine games over .500 for the first time this season.
John Wall scored 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter for the Wizards (31-29).
Bucks 114, Jazz 88
Ersan Ilyasova shot 13-of-14 from the field, knocked down a pair of three-pointers and finished with 31 points as the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a two-game losing streak.
Ilyasova got off to a good start, making all seven of his shots and scoring 18 points in the first half for Milwaukee (12-47).
Turkish centre Enes Kanter had 27 points and 14 rebounds off the bench to lead Utah (21-39), who were coming off a close loss at Indiana on Sunday.
Timberwolves 132, Nuggets 128
Minnesota (30-29) continued their attempt to climb back into the Western Conference play-off race, narrowly holding off Denver (25-34) who scored 45 points in the fourth quarter.
Kevin Love scored 33 points on 10-of-21 shooting and pulled down 19 rebounds, while Kevin Martin added 22 points despite sooting just 3-of-11, thanks to going 16-of-17 from the free-throw line.
Centre Nikola Pekovic added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves.
Ty Lawson led the Nuggets, scoring 31 and dishing 11 assists, and Wilson Chandler had 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Lakers 107, Trail Blazers 106
Lowly Los Angeles (21-39) dealt an embarrassing home defeat to Portland (41-29). Pau Gasol scored 22 on 10-of-20 shooting and Jodie Meeks added 21. Kendall Marshall had 11 assists and six rebounds.
Despite Nicolas Batum (17 points, 15 rebounds) and Robin Lopez (19 points, 16 rebounds) notching double-doubles for Portland, off shooting nights from Damian Lillard (8-of-19) and Wesley Matthews (3-of-12) doomed the Blazers.
Kings 96, Pelicans 89
DeMarcus Cousins had 23 points and Isaiah Thomas contributed 22 and Sacramento (21-39) took advantage off a rough night for New Orleans (23-37) star Anthony Davis, who mustered just 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting and only four rebounds in the loss.
Tyreke Evans led the Pelicans in scoring, with 27 points, while nearly reaching a triple-double with another 10 rebounds and eight assists.