CLEVELAND _ After days of hard-fought, physical matchups against some of the league's top centers, Kevin Love finally found his time to feast.
Love poured in 22 points in the first quarter and a season-high 38 for the game, sparking the Cavaliers to their ninth consecutive victory, 108-97 over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
With his 13th double-double of the season, LeBron James also helped the Cavs (14-7) extend the league's longest active winning streak. It is the Cavs' longest string since January-February, 2015, when they won 12 in a row under former coach David Blatt.
James nearly upstaged Love when he was ejected for the first time in 1,082 career games. With 1:59 left in the third quarter, referee Kane Fitzgerald called James for two technical fouls after James walked quickly toward Fitzgerald, screaming at him. James was apparently upset there was no foul call as he drove to the basket, splitting James Johnson and Waiters, with Waiters also bumping him after the shot.
The Cavs led 93-70 when James departed with 21 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and five steals in 28 minutes.
Until then, the night had been all about Love.
With the Cavs giving out mini-Fatheads of Love in a promotion, Love equaled his previous season-high in the first half. In the first quarter, he made 6-of-9 field goals, 3-of-5 3-pointers and 7-of-8 free throws. When he rested for the final minute, he left with the Cavs holding a 35-17 lead.
For a time, it looked as if Love would surpass his performance of Nov. 23, 2016, when he scored an NBA first-quarter record 34 points against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Love didn't achieve that feat, but his 32 points in the first half tied for the most in any half against the Heat in franchise history. It also was the most points by an opponent in a game against the Heat this season, surpassing the San Antonio Spurs' LeMarcus Aldridge, who scored 31 on Oct. 25.
For the game, Love made 10-of-16 field goals, 4-of-8 3-pointers and 14-of-17 free throws, along with nine rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra tried Hassan Whiteside, Kelly Olynyk and Josh Richardson on Love to no avail. Love's offense also drew 7-foot center Whiteside away from the basket, negating his effectiveness. Whiteside finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Love virtually ended the Heat's three-game winning streak by himself. His toughest moment came near the end of the first half when Bam Adebayo bumped Love in the shoulder/neck area, but Love did not leave the game.
Love fell 13 points short of his career-high of 51 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 23, 2012 when he played for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
During their four-game losing streak early in the season, the Cavs were plagued by embarrassingly slow starts against inferior competition. Of late, the Cavs' stars have made sure that didn't happen. Monday night, James scored 15 of his 30 points at Philadelphia in the first quarter of a 113-91 victory.
The Cavs also extended their streak of making at least 10 3-pointers to 10 consecutive games. They made 11-of-33 from beyond the arc.
Asked before tipoff what he noticed about the Cavs during their streak, Spoelstra said, "What's not to notice? They're playing in a great groove right now. The win streak, you can see that they're playing confident basketball, starting to play more connected offensively. And they do enough things defensively to keep you off balance."
Love is playing out of position at center with Tristan Thompson out with a strained left calf. Spoelstra said facing a shooting 5 is not all that unusual any more, citing the Indiana Pacers' Myles Turner, the Boston Celtics' Al Horford and the Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns as examples.
The Cavs won eight consecutive games twice in 2015-16, when they captured the NBA championship. Last season their longest winning streak was six to start the season. The franchise record is 13, and was achieved twice, from March 7-31, 2009 and from Jan. 16, 2010 to Feb. 11, 2010.
Waiters, the Cavs' fourth overall pick in 2012, led the Heat (10-10) with 21 points, and Richardson had 15.
