#7 - 2010 Regular Season December 2nd - Cleveland Cavaliers (A)

#7 - 2010 Regular Season December 2nd - Cleveland Cavaliers (A)

Miami Heat 118, Cleveland Cavaliers 90

The Return. One of the more famous regular season NBA games of all time. And one of the most unique. It’ll be interesting to see how Miami fans react on Christmas day when LeBron’s cavs come in to town, but it will be nothing compared to what happened on December 2, 2010. The video footage speaks for itself. The hype was unreal. People genuinely were frightened by what might happen. They didn’t know what might happen. Thankfully, nothing truly ugly did, but the fans let themselves be heard with one of the loudest, most hostile arenas ever seen. And LeBron shone through it. LeBron had 38, and seemed perfect in his 3^rd quarter eruption for 24. So dominant he was, it felt like he had 50 in 3 quarters.

The reasons:

• The pre game reception and boos every time he touched the ball

• Lebron throwing the chalk in the air in front of his own fans, embracing the moment
• That first quarter reverse layup
• LeBron’s hot shooting streak in the 3^rd, culminating in the deep fade away 2 in front of the cavs bench. Beginning here (4:53) and ending with this (7:43)

• The post game interview. The heat struggled early on in 2010. It was after this game that the team felt bonded, and the road to team triumph against adversity began.