LeBron James tossed for first time in career
LOS ANGELES — LeBron James was ejected for the first time in his NBA career on Tuesday, but it didn’t stop his Cleveland Cavaliers from marching to a 108-97 home win against the Miami Heat.
James was angered at the lack of a foul call on a drive to the basket on which he came up empty.
Shouting, he made a beeline for referee Kane Fitzgerald, who quickly whistled the superstar for a technical foul and then pointed to the exit with 1:59 remaining in the third quarter.
It was the first time James was ejected in 1,082 career regularseason games.
“I got fouled,” James said. “I showed my frustration to the ref and he sent me to the locker room.”
James, who had stripped the ball from Miami’s James Johnson at the other end, said he was “fouled all the way up the court, from the time that I stripped him all the way til I got to the rim.
“I said what I had to say and I moved on but (Fitzgerald) decided I should get two (technical fouls).
“It is what it is,” added James, who scored 21 points with 12 rebounds, six assists and five steals. “We got the win and that’s the most important.”
The Cavs were leading 93-70 at the time, and the absence of James for the final period didn’t stop the Eastern Conference champions from notching a ninth victory in a row.
Kevin Love scored a seasonhigh 38 points for the Cavaliers and Dwyane Wade added 17 off the bench against his former team.
Cleveland led by as many as 34 points and now have their longest regular- season winning streak since Jan. 15- Feb. 5 of 2015.
Love added nine rebounds and connected on 14 of his 17 freethrows.
Cleveland seized control of the contest with 75 points in the first half — 32 of them from Love.
Dion Waiters led the Heat with 21 points and Bam Adebayo scored 19.
The game marked the first time that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra went up against his former Miami stars James and Wade at the same time.
He coached Heat teams led by James and Wade to four straight NBA Finals appearances from 2011-2014, winning titles in 2012 and 2013.
GRIZZLIES STAR GASOL DENIES ENGINEERING COACH FIRING
Memphis Grizzlies star Marc Gasol said Tuesday he had nothing to do with the struggling NBA team’s decision to sack coach David Fizdale.
Fizdale was let go on Monday, a day after a furious Gasol was benched for the fourth quarter of the team’s eighth straight defeat.
But the Spanish big man said he was surprised by the timing of the move.
“Nobody likes to see a coach change during the season because you don’t have enough time to work on stuff,” Gasol told reporters on Tuesday. “I was a little bit shocked by it.”
Memphis general manager Chris Wallace said the firing of the second-year coach was due to the team being underachievers and not related to any rift between Fizdale and Gasol.
Memphis started the season 7-4 before the string of losses began. The Grizzlies haven’t won since losing point guard Mike Conley to an Achilles tendon injury seven games ago. —