Cavs win seventh straight behind LeBron's triple-double

CLEVELAND (AP) -- LeBron James and Dwyane Wade even impressed

each other.

The two young stars put on a show of dazzling dunks, drives and

playoff-caliber hustle that awed fans, their teammates and a coach

who witnessed the legendary battles between Magic Johnson and Larry

Bird.

"People got a view of absolute greatness," Heat coach Pat

Riley said. "It's absolutely beyond description. I haven't seen

players do that in a long, long time."

James scored 47 points and posted his 10th career triple-double,

outdoing Wade and leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to their seventh

straight win, 106-99 over the Miami Heat on Saturday.

"It's probably the best matchup I've been in," said Wade, who

finished with a season-high 44 points.

"It was great for the game. It was two young guys trying to

propel their teams to a win. I had fun. I know he had fun."

Cleveland started out flat and trailed for most of the second

half as James and Wade dueled to the delight of the sold-out crowd.

The two defended each other several times and even dove on the

floor fighting for a loose ball. Wade outscored James 21-18 in the

fourth quarter and had Miami's final 12 points.

Each time the Cavaliers got close, Wade would hit a jumper or

make a highlight-reel drive to the rim for the Heat, who were

without Shaquille O'Neal.

"He surprises me sometimes but he's Flash and can dominate a

game," James said.

James finally put Cleveland up for good, 101-99, on a slam with

1:13 remaining that left Shandon Anderson, who was looking for an

offensive foul, shaking his head.

Wade missed a 22-foot jumper at the other end. On the next

possession, James dished to Donyell Marshall, who threw down a dunk

that made former Cavaliers player and current announcer Austin Carr

jump up out of his seat. The assist gave James his sixth

triple-double this season.

Antoine Walker and Gary Payton missed 3-pointers and Zydrunas

Ilgauskas and James hit free throws to seal it.

James had 12 rebounds and 10 assists, shooting 16-for-25 from

the field and 13-for-14 from the foul line. Wade's line was almost

as impressive with nine assists, eight rebounds and 18-of-36

shooting.

The two hugged at midcourt and patted each other on the back of

the head after the final buzzer.

"We have love for each other. We are great friends," James

said. "I told him to keep doing what he was doing for his team,

and he said the same to me. We love competing against one

another."

Both Marshall and Payton said the two young stars reminded them

of Magic and Bird.

"That's what the NBA is about, two young up and coming guys

having big games like that," Payton said.

James got help from Damon Jones, who scored 12 points, all on

3s, and is 15-for-24 from 3-point range in his last five games.

Ilgauskas scored 12 points and reserve Anderson Varejao had 10

points and eight rebounds.

"Andy is Andy," James said. "He is going to play his heart

out. He is going to hit the floor. He is going to get rebounds."

Udonis Haslem scored 16 with 11 rebounds for the Heat, whose

three-game winning streak ended.

The Heat was without two starters: O'Neal, who missed his second

straight game because of a hyperextended left knee, and James

Posey. Michael Doleac and Derek Anderson started and combined for

eight points. Alonzo Mourning also was inactive.

"Without Zo and Shaq, that made it tough," Riley said.

The Cavaliers, who clinched a playoff spot with a win over

Dallas on Wednesday night, improved to 43-29 in their drive to lock

up the fourth playoff seed.

James is averaging 40.4 points over his last five games.

"He makes me look like I can coach," Cavaliers coach Mike

Brown said. "He waived me off so many times, called a play, and

got us over the hump tonight. I should've just sat down and just

let him get his triple-double and coach the team."

Game notes
Wade broke Miami's single-season scoring record with 1,894

points. ... Cleveland and Miami split the season series 2-2. ...

The Cavaliers are 14 games over .500 for the first time since the

end of the 1992-93 season. ... With Washington's loss at Houston on

Friday, Miami clinched the Southeast Division for the second

straight season. Riley intentionally downplayed winning the

division title. "It was a ploy ... a way to get them to think

bigger," Riley said. "It means something, but it's not what we

are playing for." ... Oakland Raiders WR Randy Moss brought 80

kids to the game. Moss was a high school teammate of Miami's Jason

Williams.