Despite the fact that head coach Tyronn Lue has been away from the team due to an illness, the Cleveland Cavaliers have rattled off five consecutive wins. They’ll continue their three-game road trip with a matchup against the Miami Heat on Tuesday night, which means LeBron James will be facing his long-time friend and former teammate, Dwyane Wade.
As most hoops fans know, James and Wade “go way back,” as they say. While talking to reporters during Tuesday morning’s shootaround in Miami, Wade noted that James is playing the best basketball of his career — in his 15th season.
“This is as good as I’ve seen him,” Wade told Anthony Chiang of the Palm Beach Post, referring to James.
Wade, who served as one half of Cleveland’s peanut butter and jelly duo earlier this season, makes a solid point. The Kid from Akron really is balling.
James, now 33 years of age, has played in all 73 of Cleveland’s games this season (all starts), averaging a team-high 27.5 points on 55.0 percent shooting from the field (26.6 percent from beyond the arc), a career-high tying 8.6 rebounds, career-high 9.1 assists (2nd in NBA), 1.5 steals (tied for 20th in NBA) and just under one block (0.96) in 37.1 minutes.
Tuesday night’s game between the Cavs and Heat is scheduled to tip inside American Airlines Arena at 8:00 p.m. EST with TNT and FOX Sports Ohio having live broadcast coverage. Let’s see if Cleveland — now the 3rd-ranked team in the Eastern Conference standings with a 44-29 overall record — can keep their momentum rolling.