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Even ailing, James leads Heat past Lakers 98-87

MIAMI (AP) – LeBron James was sitting at his locker after the game, a bottle of cold medicine at his side.

The Los Angeles Lakers would be hard-pressed to believe it was needed.

James shook off flu-like symptoms to put up 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists – hours after being told to stay away from the team’s shootaround practice after calling in with a cough and chest congestion – and the Miami Heat topped the Lakers 98-87 on Thursday night.

Chris Bosh scored 15 for Miami, which won its second straight after a three-game slide.

“A chest cold can get to you at times,” James said. “But I felt like I could help the team.”

Shane Battier scored 11 and led the way defensively on Kobe Bryant. Mario Chalmers finished with 10 for Miami, which led by as many as 23 points and improved to 5-1 at home. Miami moved to 5-0 this season without Dwyane Wade, who missed his second straight game with a sprained right ankle. He missed three games earlier this season with left foot soreness.

No problem – James simply did his thing, yet again.

“We don’t take his talent for granted, nor do we take Dwyane’s talent or Chris’ talent,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They’re special players and they can rise to the occasion.”

Pau Gasol scored a season-high 26 for the Lakers, Bryant scored 24 – 14 of them coming in the fourth quarter – and Andrew Bynum finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

“We tried to adjust to some things,” said Bryant, who had a four-game stretch of scoring at least 40 points earlier this month followed by a two-game total of 38 since. “We might want to go back to some of the things that we were doing a few weeks ago in terms of me being on some spots on the floor and things where I’m most comfortable.”

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By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Sports Writer

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