LeBron James and Dwyane Wade's sparkling performances lifted Miami Heat to a win over Atlanta Hawks 101-92 Monday night.
James and Wade scored 27 and 26 points respectively. The Heat have won 10 games at home, while losing only one in the current NBA season.
James made 10 of 16 attempts, while Wade was at his best with 11 of 13 from the field. Chris Bosh scored 14 points and chipped in with 10 rebounds, whereas Norris Cole finished with 10 points, on a perfect four from four.
"Just trying to be as efficient as I can," the Associated Press quoted Wade as saying. "Shooting 13 shots, it's nothing I'm used to. Some nights you go for 11-for-13. Some nights you go 3 for 13. But you just try to continue to be aggressive and continue taking shots."
For the Hawks, Josh Smith top scored with 22 points, while Al Horford had 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Minami shot well from the field with Wade and James going on a scoring spree. The Heat made a total 39 of 67 attempts from the field to register another victory against the Hawks.
"We gave LeBron and D-Wade some opportunities to be able to get some layups early on and whenever you play against a team like that or whenever you give a great player opportunities to get layups first, the rim gets that much bigger," Smith said. "And they started hitting all kinds of shots."
The Heat did not have it quite easy in the first half, with the home side scoring 28 points to Hawks' 26 in the first quarter, while both teams scored 28 points apiece in the second quarter.
The Heat were leading by two points at the start of the second half, but a big lead in the third quarter proved instrumental in their victory. The Hawks added only 20 points in the third period, while the Heat scored 26 to take a substantial eight point lead in the game.
"We made just entirely too many mistakes," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "Too many mental mistakes against a very good a basketball team. Against Miami you can't do that."
With the help of James' dunks, the Heat outscored the Hawks 19-18 in the fourth quarter to take the game.
"Cole made me go get it, for sure," James said. "He actually took that literally when I told him, 'Just throw it anywhere.'"
Wade is one of the best shooters, but he was at his best during the last two games, in which he made 20 out of 25 attempts from the floor.
"It means Charles Barkley needs to shut up," James said. "I mean, the man's shooting 80 percent from the floor in the last couple games. Come on, man. That's like crazy, right? That's why he is who he is."
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