Cavs fall to Heat, lose Bogut to broken leg
CLEVELAND -- Dion Waiters burned his old team with 29 points, and the Miami Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time in three nights, posting a 106-98 victory Monday at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavs lost more than another game, too. Center Andrew Bogut exited with a fractured left tibia just 58 seconds into his Cleveland debut.
Waiters, traded from Cleveland in January 2015, shot 12 of 24 from the field and banked in a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 12.2 seconds left to thwart a furious Cavaliers comeback attempt.
Goran Dragic scored 21 points for the Heat, while Hassan Whiteside added 13 points and 11 rebounds. Wayne Ellington added 18 points off the bench.
The Cavs received 32 points from Kyrie Irving and 30 points from LeBron James, who also set a season high with 17 rebounds. James scored 10 in the fourth as Cleveland attempted to recover from a 20-point deficit with 10:47 left in the game.
Bogut, 32, a past champion with the Golden State Warriors, signed as a free agent with Cleveland for $385,000 for the rest of the season on Thursday and joined the team Monday before the game.
With 11:38 left in the second quarter, Bogut ran out to the perimeter to guard Miami's Okaro White. There was contact, and Bogut was whistled for his second foul. He landed badly on his left ankle and hobbled before falling to the court. He needed his new teammates to help carry him to the locker room.
Initial testing on Bogut showed the fracture, and he was sent to the Cleveland Clinic for further evaluation. The team did not announce a timetable for his return.
NOTES: Cavs coach Tyronn Lue was not with the team Monday night, staying home due to an undisclosed illness he has been battling for at least a week. Associate head coach Larry Drew ran the team. ... Heat G Tyler Johnson (neck, shoulder soreness) and F James Johnson (elbow) were held out. James Johnson needed four stitches in Saturday's game after his elbow chipped the front teeth of Cavs G Iman Shumpert. ... Cleveland C Andrew Bogut, an Australian, could not participate in the shootaround Monday because the change on his work visa from Dallas to Cleveland had not been made. "So I called Vladimir Putin and got it done," Bogut said. Bogut, who wears jersey No. 6, had a No. 6.5 practice jersey because LeBron James wears No. 6 in practice.