LeBron James Drops 26 as “Wade-less” Cruise Past Pistons 98-75 [Video]
NBA superstar LeBron James scored 26 points in 32 minutes, while Chris Bosh added 22 points and nine rebounds as the Dwyane Wade-less Miami Heat cruised past the Detroit Pistons, 98-75, on Sunday.
In addition to the LeBron-Bosh 48 point combo, other players stepped up to contribute including James Jones nailed six three-pointers en route to a season-high 18 points for the Heat, who moved to 10-1 without Wade this season.
“Right now, every guy’s on edge pretty much, trying to play to their utmost capabilities,” said Jones, who entered Sunday having scored 22 points in Miami’s previous 23 games. “We understand it’s the playoffs and we need to play better as a team. From one through 15, every guy needs to play better.”
As for D-Wade, the All-Star guard sat out with right ankle soreness, which the team said was caused by an awkward landing on a missed dunk attempt against Memphis on Friday night.
Rookie guard Brandon Knight, playing in front of hordes of his hometown friends in Miami, led Detroit with 16 points and five rebounds but was the only Piston clicking on the night as the rest of his team made only 22 of 63 shots finishing the contest at 35% from the field.
“They got all of the shots they wanted,” Knight said following his team’s loss — the second straight after winning five of six. “It was easy for them. We had turnovers, missed shots, and it all led to the lead piling up.”
The Pistons led 21-19 after a quarter of play, but the Heat began to pull away in the second and never looked back.
ESPN writes that Miami’s win over Detroit, combined with Chicago’s overtime loss at New York earlier Sunday, pulled the Heat (40-15) within two games of the Bulls (43-14) for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
The teams have two more head-to-head meetings, the first of those in Chicago on Thursday night.
Check out highlights from LeBron James and the rest of the Heat during their Easter Sunday victory over Detroit below:
