MIAMI — LeBron James stayed fairly quiet when the Orlando Magic questioned his competitiveness this summer.
James and his new team presented an emphatic response Friday night.
Dwyane Wade scored 26 points in Miami’s home opener, James had 15 points and seven assists and the Heat scored the first 14 points of the second half to turn a close game into a onesided 96-70 victory over the Magic.
The Heat had lost to Orlando 15 times in the past 20 meetings. Of course, all those were before Wade, James and Chris Bosh teamed up in Miami.
And if this game was the measuring stick to see how the Heat are coming together, the result had to be an enjoyable one for Miami’s big three. The Heat held Orlando to its lowest point total since Dec. 2, 2005, and the 26-point victory margin matched Miami’s biggest ever against theMagic.
Th e 30.4 percent shooting effort was Orlando’s worst since Nov. 3, 2003 - a span of 573 regular-season games.
“The guys now can’t go back on this,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They’ve shown me what we’re capable of defensively and I will hold them to this standard now in terms of the effort. The effort was great.”
When the Heat acquired James this summer, Magic president of basketball operations Otis Smith uttered a now-infamous-in-Miami line: “I was surprised that he went. I thought he was, I guess, more of a competitor.”
It didn’t take long for the trio to provide their f irst highlight: Bosh grabbed a rebound atone end, passed near midcourt to James, who took one dribble and found Wade for an alleyoop dunk to help Miami take an early 22-13 lead.
Dwight Howard scored all 19 of his points in the first half for Orlando, then fouled out midway through the fourth quarter.
Sports, Pages 29 on 10/30/2010