The Cleveland Cavaliers escaped with a hard-earned 122-119 win against the Miami Heat on Saturday night at the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Kevin Love, who was acquired by the Cavaliers in a blockbuster trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves in August, led the way for Cleveland as he finished with 25 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field, including 4-for-5 clip from beyond the arc, and added seven rebounds.
Leaning on Love and LeBron James, the Cavaliers went comfortably ahead in the first half, which ended with them on top by 15 points, but the Heat managed to turn the tables around in the second half.
The Cavaliers were still up by 10 points heading into the final period, but the Heat slowly chipped into the lead to force an extra period, leaning on the hot shooting from rookie guard Shabazz Napier, who scored 14 points in the final five minutes of regulation.
The two squads, who used their reserves in the extra period, went toe-to-toe against each other before the Cavaliers escaped with the three-point win off a go-ahead three-pointer from Stephen Holt and two free throws from Joe Harris to seal the win.
Tristan Thompson had another impressive performance for the Cavaliers as he finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Dion Waiters added 16 points.
Anderson Varejao, who played in front of his countrymen, ended up with 14 points in 20 minutes, while LeBron James, who played in his first game against his former team finished with just seven points, but tallied eight assists and three rebounds for the Cavaliers.
James, who shot just 2-for-8 from the field, said that he did not feel any awkward feeling going up against his former teammates, saying that the match was a special one for him.
"It was a special moment, competing against my old team," James said via ESPN. "I didn't get an awkward feeling. I did get a lot of memories coming back. It was definitely great getting to see them."
Heat superstar Chris Bosh, on the other hand, said that they are glad their first meeting with James and the Cavaliers is over, adding that they can now move one from all the hype that surrounded the match.
"I like the fact we could get everything out of the way," Bosh said. "Just let everybody see it, so we can move on. As far as seeing LeBron on another team, we're pretty much over that now."
Watch the highlights of the Cavaliers-Heat preseason match below. More video highlights are available on this link along with the complete box scores.
