MIAMI,Florida, January 18 – LeBron James had 33 points and 10 assists and Chris Bosh scored 30 points as the Miami Heat rallied from a 17-point first half deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 120-98 on Tuesday.
Mike Miller had 14 points off the bench for the Heat who had a dismal first half and trailed 63-49 at halftime.
“Once we got back to playing defence we were able to turn the game around,” James said. “We want to protect our home court. We didn’t have a good road trip so to come home after nine days on the road is nice. This is great start for us.”
The win snapped a season-high three game losing streak for Miami who went 2-3 on their road swing. They play eight of their next nine games at home.
Danny Green scored a team high 20 points and Tony Parker finished with 18 points for the Spurs who have lost all five of their games on the road but are a perfect 9-0 at home.
Miami played without star Dwyane Wade who has an injured right ankle. X-rays showed no break but Wade, who turned 30 on Tuesday, is being held out while the sprain heals.
In his absence, Bosh stepped up to help provide the bulk of the offence with James.
“When he is aggressive we have a much better team,” James said of Bosh. “He did a little bit of everything tonight and that was one of the keys of the game.”
Miami will host Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Cleveland as part of their home stand.
