LeBron James took a seat in the fourth quarter, his Miami Heat team well ahead behind a sensational night the King. About the only thing he had to do was avoid the dreaded "Kiss Cam." No problem. He did it the same way he evaded a woeful Atlanta Hawks defense all night -- with relative ease.
James posted 43 points on a 16-for-21 shooting night from the field to lead the Heat to a resounding 106-85 win over the hapless Hawks on Friday night before a sellout crowd of over 20,000 at Philips Arena.
Chris Bosh added 17 points and 10 rebounds and Dwyane Wade posted 14 for Miami, which just decimated a discombobulated Atlanta team.
How easy was it for the Heat? It was like they knew what was coming on both defense and offense.
Of course, it helped that Miami had former Atlanta point guard Mike Bibby on the bench. He was calling the Hawks' offensive sets out to his new team. I'm not sure that mattered. The Hawks beat themselves by shooting 44-percent (35-for-79) from the field, missing 10-of-22 free throws and losing the battle of the boards 50-27.
And then there was James.
The King was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field in the first half, posting 20 points while his Heat team built a 50-43 lead at the break. James began missing shots in the third quarter, but he still managed to more than double his game total and outscored the Hawks 23-20 in the frame.
What was Atlanta's response? Let's put it this way: the Hawks were down by 18 and Josh Smith lined up at the 3-point line and missed a wild trey. You knew that Atlanta had zero chance after that.
About the only one who was playing any sort of defense on King James was Zaza Pachulia. He committed a hard foul on the King in the waning minute of the third. But in typical NBA fashion, Zaza received a Flagrant-1 and James went to the line -- splitting a pair of free throws. Pachulia, perhaps annoyed that his team was down by 30 at the time, also picked up a technical for bumping shoulders with Joel Anthony in the third quarter.
Along the way, James converted on a 3-point play and the same Philips Arena crowd that lustily booed the Miami superstar and his partner in crime Wade for most of the game turned on the home team. Chants of "MVP! MVP! MVP!" reigned down upon another NBA player who was wearing a visiting uniform here.
While the Hawks fans were a tad bit schizophrenic with James, they were clearly behind Bibby, cheering the point guard when he took the floor late in the first quarter. Bibby finished with two points and six assists.
Marvin Williams had 15, Damien Wilkins had 14 points and Jeff Teague 13 -- most in garbage time off the bench for Atlanta.
Al Horford posted 11 points and Smith 10 for Atlanta, which connected on just 3-of-12 shots from behind the 3-point line.