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 Cole finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. But it was his only steal on Cleveland's final possession that sealed one of Miami's most unexpected wins this season.
"Everbody had a hand in this win," Spoelstra said. "That's what we wanted to do. We're here. We might as well compete and made the most of it."
James was disappointed to not play in another homecoming game against his former team, but he appreciated Spoelstra's desire to get the NBA champions as healthy and refreshed as possible heading into the postseason. Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers joined James on the bench while Dwyane Wade, Shane Battier and Udonis Haslem stayed back in Miami with minor injuries.
Rashard Lewis scored 19 points and James Jones had 14 for the Heat Light, and Miami got win 65 -- a number Spoelstra couldn't have imagined.
"Sixty-five is a big number," Spoelstra said. "I've been part of championship teams and teams that had great success in this league that have never been able to win this many games."
Irving and Tristan Thompson scored 16 apiece for the Cavs, who have lost five straight, 15 of 17 and may soon relieve Byron Scott of his coaching duties.
Scott, though, believes he will return for a fourth season.
"I am going to be back to coach them," he said. "I've got a year left on my contract, so unless I'm told different, I expect to do that."
Irving scored on two driving layups to get the Cavs within one, and Cole gave Cleveland its final chance by missing two free throws with 13.9 seconds left.
After two timeouts, the Cavs ran an isolation play for Irving, who drove left and tried to spin on Cole but had the ball taken away by the Cleveland State product. As Cole dribbled out the final seconds, James and the rest of the Heat's high-paid benchwarmers walked onto the floor to help Miami's reserves celebrate.
"I wanted to stay between him and the basket," Cole said of the final play. "I had a chance to strip the ball and I did. In situations like that the game's on the line. You have to buckle up and play the best defense you can."
When the game ended, Irving ran off the floor and skipped a postgame ceremony where Cavs players gave away jerseys and game-worn shoes to fans. A team official said Irving was injured, but that seemed to be news to the 21-year-old All-Star.
"That's what I have?" Irving said sarcastically. "Oh. When was someone going to tell me? I'm hurt again. How long am I going to be out?
James was limited to a pregame workout with Bosh and Chalmers as the Heat played their final road game before finishing the regular season in Orlando on Wednesday. James was officially listed as being out with a "sore right hamstring" but his benching was more to get him set for another possible title run.
This was a fairly uneventful game compared with James' previous visit on March 20, when the Heat overcame a 27-point deficit in the second half to win; a fan wearing a T-shirt asking James to return to Cleveland ran onto the floor; and the giant scoreboard leaked fluid and delayed the opening tip.
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With James in a brown sport coat and Bosh wearing his Heat warm-ups, Spoelstra sent out a starting lineup of Cole, Mike Miller, Joel Anthony, Lewis and 40-year-old journeyman Juwan Howard, who made his first NBA start since April 14, 2010.
Still, Miami's backups were too much for the Cavs.
"Look at their roster," Thompson said. "They're not scrubs. A lot of these guys are champions and can start on other teams."
James warmed up on the Quicken Loans floor, his home court for seven years, for more than 30 minutes before heading to the locker room. On his way out, he stopped to sign autographs in the tunnel leading to Miami's dressing room as fans leaned over a railing to hand him balls, caps, posters and anything they could.
An aluminum railing briefly gave way and nearly toppled fans on top of James. But security guards acted quickly and were able to secure the partition before ordering fans to move back before someone was seriously injured.
James said he was disappointed not to play, but supported his coach.
"I'm never sad about sitting," he said, smiling. "I'm sad about not playing."
A third straight losing season for Cleveland is winding down with coach Scott's future in jeopardy.
Scott is already under contract for next season, but there's no guarantee he'll be back. Owner Dan Gilbert, who has not commented on Scott's status, had a courtside seat for Cleveland's last home game. He can't be happy with his team missing the playoffs again, and could be forced to change coaches.
Scott said this season has worn him down.
"I'm fatigued, mentally, physically, a little bit of everything," he said. "But I still wake up every morning ready for work."
The Cavs did show more effort than on Sunday in Philadelphia when Irving scored a career-low 4 points and Scott benched his starters for the fourth quarter.
NOTES: James' statistics are nearly identical to last season's, and Spoelstra doesn't see the reigning MVP slowing down anytime soon. "I don't know if many people anticipated after last year's season and finals run that he would be able to match that and be even more efficient and better year this year," Spoelstra said. "Why wouldn't he be able to improve and take it to another level in the years coming up? He's still so young and he has that type of mindset where he'll always try to improve. ... Cavs rookie G Waiters, who recently missed 10 games with a knee injury, looked perfectly healthy when he soared for a vicious dunk over Chris "Birdman" Andersen, who nearly had a "Spalding" imprint added to his collection of tattoos.
[Associated
Press; By TOM WITHERS]
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