LeBron leads the way as Heat tame Bobcats in Game 1 win

The Miami Heat jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in their series with the Charlotte Bobcats thanks to a 99-88 victory.

The Heat were led in scoring by LeBron James, who topped all players in the game with 27 points. His backcourt partner Dwyane Wade chipped in with 23 points, and both players combined to shoot an efficient 18-for-32 from the field.

The Bobcats stayed within striking distance through three quarters, as they trailed by just seven points, however the Heat's defense was able to clamp down and secure the victory. Over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, the Heat held the Bobcats to just five points, which opened up a sizeable lead.

However, despite losing the game itself, the Bobcats can hold their heads high, as they undoubtedly won the battle of SportsCenter. First, point guard Kemba Walker badly crossed up Heat forward James Jones. Then, Josh McRoberts threw down a vicious dunk over Heat center Chris "Birdman" Anderson.

Charlotte found success early by keeping the Heat out of the paint, but their success dwindled as the game went on, as the Heat shifted their offense towards exploiting center Al Jefferson's lack of foot speed in the pick-and-roll. 

To his credit, Jefferson was suffering from the lingering effects of a torn left plantar fascia, an injury he sustained in the first quarter. However, he was able to play 35 minutes, and remained his dominant self in the paint. He scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Ultimately, like every other team in the NBA, the Bobcats simply had no answer for LeBron James. The team tried a slew of defenders on James, including Gerald Henderson, Josh McRoberts, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Chris Douglas-Roberts, but to no avail, as LeBron was able to overpower each matchup. That came as no surprise, as LeBron scored a career-high 61 points against Charlotte in their last meeting.

With his 27 points, James also surpassed Celtics legend Larry Bird for eighth all-time in playoff scoring.