One of the scary things about LeBron James is how easy things seem to be for him sometimes. He finished with 35 points on an almost perfect shooting night to lead the Miami Heat over the Phoenix Suns in a 107-92 win, and hardly broke a sweat doing it.
James shot 11-of-14 from the field, adding a perfect 11-for-11 night from the line. He is shooting 62.6% from the field during November, and has already had three games with 70% or better, all of them taking more than 14 shots.
James – I’m in a very, very comfortable position right now with my game.
James wasn’t alone as the Heat picked up their seventh straight victory. Miami actually had their big runs when Dwyane Wade was alone among the big names on the floor, finishing with a +22 during his 33 minutes. Just like LeBron, he was quite efficient, as his 9-of-13 shooting led to 21 points, adding 12 assists. Miami got itself a lot of easy points on the break, scoring 52 points in the paint and hitting 7 three pointers: Two for Battier and James, three for Ray Allen.
Ray Allen had a strong performance coming off the bench with 17 points, and Chris Andersen was the fourth player from Miami in double figures, adding 11. Channing Frye was the top scorer for the Suns with 16 points.
Wade also stole the show with a photobomb while James was doing an interview at the end of the game, pulling of a cartwheel in the background, something of a shoutout to his son back at home.
Despite their excellent form, the Heat know it might be misleading. Their current win streak is coming against some of the weaker teams in the NBA, with no real juggernaut being brushed out of the way, as their win over the Mavs should be considered the highest quality of them all. But the ability to fall back on LeBron James, who is having one of those months when it seems like there’s not a thing in the world that can bother him in his special zone is an excellent opportunity to get the final tune ups before the rougher stretches up ahead.
The Phoenix Suns, exhausted from playing a third game in four nights, seemed to be frustrated with their shot making (only 39.8% from the field), although they didn’t feel like it was the Heat’s defense that did it to them – it was simply a rough night, missing too many open shots.
Jeff Hornacek – We just couldn’t make any shots. The third game of a fourth night might have started to get us. We were open and we couldn’t make them. … To beat this team — they’re a great team — you have to make those shots. They’re a veteran team — they’ve been playing together for three, four years now, some of them longer than that. They know where they’re supposed to be. They know what plays work. And they have a couple of closers there at the end.