James gets a second chance to turn Heat up on Cavs
Juneau's Boozer scores 15 points, grabs 8 rebounds
James, who missed a pair of free throws with 25.9 seconds remaining, made two with 0.4 seconds left after being fouled by Davis to lead the Miami Heat to a 77-75 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night.
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James hit his free throws after being kicked in the side of the head by Davis, who got faked into the air as the Heat guard was attempting a 3-pointer.
"He almost jumped over me," James said. "I just tried to jump into him because he's extremely athletic."
Cleveland (11-53) lost its seventh straight, 13th in 14 games and can't seem to catch a break.
"I thought I jumped all the way over him," Davis said. "I was late. I figured I'd get off my feet and try to block it."
Travis Best scored 16 points and Vladimir Stepania added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who went a span of 7:48 between field goals in the fourth quarter and scored six of their points in the period on free throws.
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Davis had 19 points and rookie power forward Carlos Boozer of Juneau scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Cavs, who committed a season-low seven turnovers.
"It's a tough way to lose," forward Chris Mihm said. "We're a young team and we make young mistakes. Unfortunately, a lot of them come in crunch time."
After James missed two free throws with score tied at 75, Davis misfired on a 14-foot jumper - he went 6-for-22 - with 3.4 seconds left and the Heat quickly called timeout with 2.4 seconds remaining.
"It was the shot I wanted," Davis said. "It just didn't go in."
After one inbounds pass was tipped away by Cleveland, the Heat got the ball to James, who head-faked Davis off his feet. As he went to the free-throw line, James wasn't going to let a second chance slip away.
"I was hoping I would get a second opportunity, and I got it to redeem myself," he said. "When I missed those two free throws, it frustrated me a little bit. I had to keep my focus."
The Cavaliers were once again without rookie guard Dajuan Wagner, who missed his second straight game with a sprained right knee. Wagner is scheduled to undergo further tests and is listed as day-to-day.
Cleveland also lost forward Darius Miles, who was ejected in the third quarter by referee Sean Corbin.
Miles was angry over a non-call when he got hit while driving for a layup. After two quick technicals, Miles took off his jersey and left it laying on the floor as he was escorted to the Cavs' locker room.
"I feel like I let the team down," Miles said.
The Heat were out of sync offensively, scoring just nine points in the first 8:26 of the third quarter before going on a 9-0 run to close the period to take a 67-61 lead into the fourth.
Incredibly, Miami did not record an offensive rebound in the first half and yet the Heat still managed to lead 47-42 at the break.
Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who has been in shooting slump lately, missed all six of his shots in the first half and had two points, giving the All-Star center just three points in his last five quarters. He finished with 12.
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