* Miami Heat's LeBron James scores 38 in homecoming win against Cleveland
* LeBron James encounters Cleveland's wrath
* Game stats | Heat 118, Cavaliers 90
CLEVELAND -- They tried to poison him from a distance with the usual combination of boos and signs and T-shirts and chants.
They tried to wound his heart with family references and telling LeBron James that his hometown of Akron, Ohio, hates him.
It was nothing LeBron hadn't heard before, just maybe not this loud, not this concentrated, not this intense.
Someone even tried tossing a battery toward the Heat bench.
It didn't matter, though. It didn't take.
Cleveland fans got their say, taking their first chance to personally tell LeBron how betrayed they felt. And, for a while, they actually were convinced the whole ``One for All. All for One'' team motto actually meant something, that this Cavaliers team can survive just fine with Joey Graham trying to replace LeBron in the lineup.
It didn't take long, though, for the fans to recognize what had gotten away, that no matter how much they hate their former King, it doesn't compare to how much they miss him.
By halftime, James wasn't quietly going about his business. He was smiling for fans with cameras as his teammates warmed up. He danced in the area just in front of the Cavs bench. And once that second half began, he was just as much toying with his former team and showing off for his former fans as he was performing for the Heat. Of his season-best 38 points, 24 came in that third quarter, tying a Heat record for points in a quarter. And LeBron loved every second of it.
James left Cleveland showing no loyalty. He came back showing no regrets.
Why should he? Look what he left behind.
This team of Cavaliers, whose lone improvement in the offseason was the addition of Ramon Sessions, is painful to watch.
Mo Williams was too small to be effective. J.J. Hickson is a decent, developing big man, but little else. Anderson Varejao is great when he's a role player asked to do nothing more but aggravate opponents and clean up LeBron's misses, but he's little more than a hesitant offensive player now.
Jamario Moon? Daniel Gibson? Anthony Parker?
Wouldn't you leave, too?
Sure, the Heat hasn't been the powerhouse everyone was expecting out of the gate. But to suggest James would have been closer to a championship with this group of Cavs than he is in Miami is ludicrous.
This version of the Heat, the one that took control of a riotous building -- this is the version of the Heat you will see once the games mean more.
The Heat, for the first time all season, looked unified. The Heat looked like a collection of talent instead of a frustrated bunch of individuals.
That's because, for the first time this season, the Heat was playing for an actual cause. Not just the goal of improving, but for the cause of supporting James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas in their return to Cleveland.
No longer was Dwyane Wade playing concerned, wondering whether he was doing too much and not involving James enough.
No longer was James waiting his turn. No longer did the defense look confused or allow a point guard to devastate it.
The Heat played with a purpose. A playoff-like purpose.
This historic return home for one of the NBA's greatest might have become his biggest victory to date.
He came out of this not only with the reassurance that he made the right choice, but he left more confident about it than ever. He came out of it knowing that Wade isn't a player with whom he's competing for touches, but possibly the best teammate he could have in moments like this.
He came out of it knowing that, just days after he reportedly turned on his head coach, the Heat would still come together to support him.
``There are times where we don't like each other,'' Spoelstra said of his team. ``That can be a good thing as well. You only really get to know each other and get tested when you've seen both sides and you're able to respond and move on.''
Now LeBron can move on.
LeBron can move on, back to his new city, to his new group of supporters, knowing what he left behind won't haunt him.
He left behind 38 points, eight assists and a city full of unfulfilled fans.
It was the definition of closure.
TAKE THAT, FUCKIN CAVS!
