NBA Scores 2015: Cleveland Cavaliers 114, Miami Heat 88

If the Thursday match-up between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat will be a first round preview of the NBA Playoffs, the LeBron James-led squad will dominate in the postseason over the Dwyane Wade’s team. James had 23 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists to lead his Cavaliers to an emphatic 114-88 victory.

The win brought the Cavaliers (49-27) closer to locking down the second seed in the Eastern Conference and put them 3.5 games ahead of third place Toronto Raptors (45-30) and Chicago Bulls (45-30). There is still a strong possibility that the Heat will face the Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs but not with the current playoff picture as the Brooklyn Nets (34-40) took over the seventh seed with the Heat (34-41) dropping to eighth place.

The Cavaliers played without Kevin Love, who has a sore back, but got excellent support from the bench. Reserves Iman Shumpert had 17 points and Matthew Dellavedova had 13 points while Kyrie Irving added 23 points and 4 steals. The Heat trailed early on and never recovered no thanks to a Wade knee injury in the first half as the star veteran guard played just 13 minutes and finished with just 7 points.

If Wade’s injury will cause him to miss games for the Heat, his other teammates has to step up in the stretch run of the regular season as other teams are also chasing the final seeds in the conference. The Boston Celtics (34-41) are tied with the Heat in the win-loss column while the Charlotte Hornets (32-42) and Indiana Pacers (32-43) are just half and one games behind, respectively.

Without Wade for much of the ballgame, the Heat were led by Hassan Whiteside and Luol Deng, who both finished with 17 markers. Goran Dragic had 11 points but missed 7-of-10 field goals and added 7 assists. The Cavaliers need three more wins to lock the second seed while the Heat have some work to do as they face playoff-bound or teams still in the hunt for a postseason slot in the next five games.

To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au.