CLEVELAND: The boos softened, the signs were sparse and the chants of how Akron hated him disappeared altogether.
The only thing that remained consistent from LeBron James’ initial return to Cleveland last season was the way the Miami Heat completely dismantled the Cavaliers.
James had 28 points, Dwyane Wade had 22 — despite neither playing the fourth quarter — and the Heat scored 21 of the game’s first 23 points to bury the Cavs on Friday 111-87.
It was an outcome similar to the Heat’s 28-point win last season in James’ first game back at Quicken Loans Arena since signing with the Heat as a free agent. The Cavs seemed tight that night, even intimidated by James, the crowd and the vitriol aimed at him.
Cavs coach Byron Scott thought the same thing happened Friday.
“We looked like we were frightened,” Scott said.
“I said at halftime it boggles my mind that you’re scared of another man.”
Antawn Jamison quickly disputed that theory and thought the Cavs simply lacked energy and were beaten badly in transition — a rarity in a season where the Cavs are among the stingiest in the league at allowing fast-break points.
“I guess I speak for the sake of the players, I don’t think we’re scared of anybody,” Jamison said.
“We’re all men here. I think Coach is disappointed just like everyone in this locker room and all the fans. We expected to come out and play better. I don’t think anybody in this locker room is scared of any other man in this world.”
If the Cavs were intimidated again, it’s perplexing why. They went right at James and the Heat in Miami’s second visit to Cleveland last season and fought them to the bitter end in two losses earlier this season in South Beach.
The crowd was revved to boo James again on Friday, but it didn’t have the intensity of his initial return game last season.
Asked why the Cavs have fallen flat in two of James’ three appearances at Quicken Loans Arena as a member of the Heat, Jamison wasn’t interested in discussing last year.
“I don’t know what happened last year,” Jamison said. “I just worry about this year.”
The Cavs caught the Heat at a bad time, since they are playing perhaps their best basketball of the season. The Heat stormed through a six-game road trip by going 5-1 and winning each game by an average of 19 points.
One day after talking at length about returning to play for the Cavs some day, James looked right at home again at Quicken Loans Arena. He finished two dunks off lob passes within the game’s first eight minutes, the second of which gave the Heat a commanding 25-5 lead.
“I thought they came out with a great effort,” Scott said. “We didn’t match it whatsoever.”
The No. 1 priority on the Cavs’ whiteboard in their locker room prior to the game was to “HIT FIRST.”
Instead, the Heat hit first, second, third and fourth. In fact, they batted around once, taking an 11-0 lead on James’ first dunk off a lob from Wade, before the Cavs even scored.
“We took the crowd right out of it,” James said. “That was big. It was a good way to start the game.”
James sealed the win with 16 points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer with 4:50 left that put the Heat ahead 83-49 for their biggest lead of the game. It’s why James and Wade were able to take the final 12 minutes off.
Kyrie Irving struggled offensively. He scored 17 points, but made just 5-of-15 shots. He and Alonzo Gee, the Cavs’ starting backcourt with Daniel Gibson sidelined (ankle), combined to shoot just 9-of-29 for the game.
“We just didn’t give any resistance,” Irving said. “We started off the game really slow … and it’s hard to get back against such a great team. It was tough.”
There were more James jerseys in the crowd than for either of his two visits last year. He even received a smattering of cheers on his second lob dunk.
James stole headlines for the past two days with talk he could return to Cleveland, but it had little effect on a crowd that still booed him every time he touched the ball — it just lacked some of the vitriol from last season.
About six hours before the game, Cleveland police brought mirrors and bomb-sniffing dogs to sweep the areas surrounding the floor and visitor’s locker room.
Asked if that was standard procedure before every game, one police officer responded, “No, just for that [expletive].”
But as he has done so many times in the past two years, James had the final word against the Cavs.
He is now 5-1 against his former team, including now two convincing, dominating performances on the court he once owned.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at http://cavs.ohio.com Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ. Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
