Baseline to Baseline recaps: LeBron beats Cleveland. Yawn.

What you missed while learning to play a-ha on the accordion….

Heat 107, Cavaliers 91: As has been their pattern, this is another game where the Heat played down to the level of the competition. At least for three quarters — in the fourth the Heat cranked up the defense and that was enough to pull away and get a comfortable win.

The Heat’s offense was clicking all night as both Dwyane Wade (26 points) and LeBron James (24) were attacking and getting in the lane (it seemed like dunking practice for LeBron). But give the Cavaliers some credit — Kyrie Irving was the fourth best player on the court and Anderson Varejao may have been the fifth (Udonis Haslem had a good night as well). Antawn Jamison had 25 for Cleveland.

Timberwolves 86, Kings 84: Minnesota has a winning record. Let that sink in for a moment.

No Kevin Love for the Timberwolves (two game suspension for using Luis Scola as a doormat), but Nikola Pekovic started and filled in pretty well, knocking down 9-of-12 shots for 23 points, 10 rebounds, and a couple blocks. Sacamento kept it close because it was Jimmer time late, Fredette had 13 fourth quarter points. He and Isaiah Thomas pushed the pace and helped make this a game again — so why does Keith Smart take them out and put Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton back in for the final minute?

Tied 82-82 with a minute left, Ricky Rubio drove the lane and four defenders were in the paint watching him, which meant nobody was out with Derrick Williams at the three point line, he got the pass and drained it. But the Kings had their chance at the end. Rubio needs to develop a floater, because late he drove again (a little too early in the clock) with a chance to seal it but missed an awkward pull up. The Kings grabbed the miss and pushed it in transition, and in a scramble the ball came out to Donte Green, who got a good look at the game winning three, but clanked it off the rim. If the Kings ever have a good first quarter (they were down 15) they may win a game.

Pacers 104, Jazz 99: Indiana got this win thanks to a fantastic fourth quarter by Danny Granger, who had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the final period and finished the game with 25 points. It took a late 8-0 run for the Pacers to secure the win at all. Credit to the Jazz for even making a game of this — the Pacers had gone on a 14-2 run early in the third quarter and were up 21, but the Jazz would not just roll over. Utah went on a 25-4 run (sparked in part by Josh Howard and C.J. Miles off the Jazz bench), Indy shot 0-for-10 during it, and we had a tie game in the fourth. Paul Millsap was playing like a beast again and had 18. But the Pacers finally responded with nice ball movement and a Darren Collison three and they took the lead for good. Another great game for Roy Hibbert, who finished with 17 and 10. This is four road losses in a row for the Jazz, who are becoming one of those home/road Jekyll/Hyde teams.

Suns 107, Bucks 105: There was a moment early in the second quarter when Michael Redd came in, drained 5-of-6 for a quick 10 points, that must have been like a flashback to the people in Milwaukee. This was not a game with a lot of defense played by either side, the result was six Suns in double figures scoring (Marcin Gortat led the way with 21) and on the other side Drew Gooden had 25 (on 21 shots). But in the end, the best player on the floor — Steve Nash — hit the game winner and dominated Brandon Jennings on the night.

Celtics 94, Bobcats 84: It was Paul Pierce’s night — he passed Larry Bird on Boston’s all-time scoring list, had 15 points (but needed 18 shots to get there), 8 rebounds and 9 assists. Late in the first half the Celtics were forcing the ball to him to get him to the record and against a better team it might have hurt them, but this is the worst team in the league they faced. Charlotte, to their credit, hung pretty close for three quarters but an 11-0 Celtics run early in the fourth put this one away. Kevin Garnett had 22 points, Rajon Rondo had 14 assists and zero turnovers. Derrick Brown was 10-for-10 shooting for Charlotte, but they just lack players who can impact the game.

Thunder 119, Warriors 116: Defense? We don’t need no stinkin’ defense. The losing team in this game had an offensive rating of 117.2 in what was a fast-paced game with 99 possessions. Monta Ellis put up a blistering 48 points (on 29 shots), while on the other side Kevin Durant had 33 — do you think he meant to bank in the game winner? — and Russell Westbrook 31 (but nine turnovers). This came down to who make the plays at the end — Durant hit his game winner and blocked a Brandon Rush shot, while Ellis just could not knock down his good look. Some nights that’s the difference.