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James pumps in 51 as Heat hold off Magic

Feb 4, 2011 - 6:45 AM Orlando, FL (Sports Network) - LeBron James scored a team-record 23 points in the first quarter en route to an NBA season-best 51 points, as the Miami Heat led wire-to-wire in a 104-100 victory over the Orlando Magic.

James also grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out eight assists for the Heat, who have won four in a row. Alonzo Mourning previously held Miami's first-quarter mark, scoring 21 against Washington on March 29, 1996.

The Eastern Conference Player of the Month for January, James made 17-of-25 shots from the field and has scored 20 or more points in 14 straight games. Kevin Durant of the Thunder and Blake Griffin of the Clippers had scored 47 points earlier this season.

"Just playing this team got me going," James said. "We understand that it wasn't just any regular-season game. There were a lot of things said about us in the offseason that came from this organization. So we just wanted to come in here and play to our abilities and make a statement."

Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh chipped in with 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the victors. Wade played through a lower back injury.

Jameer Nelson finished with 22 points, six rebounds and six assists to pace the Magic, who have dropped three of four.

Dwight Howard donated 17 points and 16 boards for Orlando, which got 18 points from Jason Richardson.

"His numbers say that he's a pretty mediocre jump shooter, and tonight he was a great jump shooter. We did a good job keeping him out of the paint," Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy said of James.

James absolutely dominated the first quarter of play, but Orlando managed to stay close. A 14-foot pullup jumper by James got the scoring started just 27 seconds into the game.

A short time later, Bosh made four straight free throws before James made two shots from the charity stripe to give Miami an early 8-2 edge. James went on to score the next 14 Miami points prior to James Jones' trey for a 25-14 lead with three minutes left.

James went 9-of-9 from the field over the first 12 minutes, but it was only good enough for a 30-26 margin.

The Heat held a 45-35 lead past the midway mark of the second stanza when James missed his first shot of the game. Eddie House's jumper and Erick Dampier's layup prior to the break gave Miami a 55-45 edge.

Orlando ripped off six straight points near the end of the third to get within 70-63 on Howard's free throw with 2:13 to go.

The Heat, though, scored the final nine points of the stanza. James recorded a three-point play to start the flurry, which Joel Anthony capped with a slam for a 79-63 lead.

Miami used a 9-0 run early in the fourth to extend its margin to 88-65 on Wade's jumper with over eight minutes to play.

Orlando used the long ball to make things interesting. The Magic made five three-pointers in a span of four minutes. Richardson's trey with 57.5 seconds to play cut the gap to 98-91. Nelson's layup with 28.5 ticks left made it a five-point contest.

James made 5-of-6 from the line down the stretch to give Miami a 103-97 edge with 15.1 seconds to go. Things got tense for the Heat following Nelson's trey and Mike Miller's turnover.

Miller's bad pass left the Magic with 9.4 seconds to tie the game, but Ryan Anderson was off the mark with a three-point attempt. Wade made 1-of-2 from the foul line to put the game away.

Game Notes

The Heat lead the season-series with the Magic, 2-1. The Heat had lost eight of nine and nine of their last 11 at Orlando...Wade had posted three straight 30-point games...James made his first 11 shots of the game.