LeBron James' first meeting with the Miami Heat certainly did not go as planned. The Cleveland Cavaliers traveled to South Beach on Christmas Day where the Miami Heat got the best of the Eastern Conference team. Now the tables are turned as the two teams look a bit different a few months later. The Heat will be without Dwyane Wade while the Cavaliers are having locker room issues that could hurt them going forward.
The Cavaliers are facing a little bit of drama surrounding James and Kevin Love involving Twitter. Love once stated that he was not trying to fit in, but merely do his part. While the forward has struggled with his shot over recent weeks, James has questioned Love's confidence while confirming that a tweet regarding the need to fit in was in fact targeted at his teammate. The two players have dismissed the idea that there are issues with one another, but of course the media is looking to push the issue.
"Listen, I was caught off guard when I heard it," Love said, via ESPN.com. "I talk to LeBron every day, we're teammates. We see each other. There's no problem with us. He said that if he had a problem with me or anybody on the team ... he would go right to them. So, initially I was confused, but I don't feel bad. I am just going out there to trying to help this team."
Now the two must aside any potential differences as the Cavaliers look to take on the visiting Miami Heat. Cleveland is in a stretch of being 13-1 while averaging 108.3 points per game. James is putting up 27.6 points while shooting 50 percent in his last 14 games. He had a double-double on Sunday. Love is averaging 17.1 points which is a 9.0 drop from his last year in Minnesota. The Cavaliers stress that communication is the key.
The Heat are trying to get back-to-back wins before taking time off for the All-Star break. Wade will be out yet again with hamstring issues. He has missed the past seven games for the injury. Chris Bosh is picking up the scoring slack, putting up 32 points against the New York Knicks. While the game is a reunion for James, it is also one with Luol Deng who left the Cavaliers in free agency after being traded their mid-season from the Chicago Bulls.
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