The Associated Press

CLEVELAND — It was maybe the only game that will matter to the Cleveland Cavaliers all season, and it was all but over by halftime.

LeBron James scored half the points in a 16-0 first-quarter surge that muffled an angry crowd, finishing with 38 to lead the Miami Heat to a 118-90 victory over the Cavaliers on Thursday night.

This was a game that meant the world to the Cavaliers’ fans, who felt betrayed by James’ decision last July to leave his home state for sunny Miami.

“I’m disappointed more than anything else,” said first-year Cleveland coach Byron Scott. “The thing that worried me is we have to get better as a basketball team. I know we can play a lot better than we did tonight. Like I told the guys in there, I haven’t lost any faith in them.”

It was James’ first game back in the city where he played for seven years before leaving via free agency, angering disbelieving fans who considered him one of their own.

“We came in here with one goal and that was to win a basketball game, and we did that,” James said. “This was our most complete game of the season from start to finish.”

Dwyane Wade added 22 points, James Jones 18 and Chris Bosh 15 for the Heat, a star-studded team which has seldom played like one in going 12-8 so far.

“It was a great collective effort,” said coach Erik Spoelstra. “This is the first time I have seen this connection all year long.”

Daniel Gibson scored 21 for the Cavaliers, who have lost six of eight and now play seven of their next eight on the road. They fell to 7-11 on the season.

James had 10 more points than Cleveland’s starting lineup.

Ahead by 19 at the half, the Heat poured it on by shooting 73 percent from the field in the third quarter, with James going 10 of 12 and Wade hitting all four of his attempts to stretch the lead to 30 points.

“I thought he played great,” Scott said of James. “Simple as that. I thought he played great.”

James sat on the bench for all of the fourth quarter, with dozens of security guards and police lining the team’s entrance to the court and guarding against objects thrown at him. After the final seconds sifted away, he left without incident.

Until then, James frequently bantered with his former coaches with the Cavaliers and even talked to fans at courtside. The native of nearby Akron smiled while shooting free throws, in spite of what seemed like the entire arena chanting, “Akron hates you!”

“I turned one time and he was down there talking,” Scott said. “That’s what he does most games. He talks to most guys on the bench.”

The early spurt left a crowd of 20,562 with nothing left to cheer except James’ occasional missed shot. He didn’t miss many, finishing 15 of 25 from the field, to go with eight assists and five rebounds.

James, of course, left the Cavaliers this summer to take his act to South Florida. Before the game, fans peppered him with obscene chants and booed every time he appeared on the giant monitors over midcourt.

Fans held up signs that read, “Quitness” and “Play Like It’s Game Five” — a reference to his Nike marketing campaign and also last season’s pivotal game in the playoff series with Boston, when many felt James had quit on the Cavaliers. There were five guys wearing a single letter each on their white T-shirts that spelled out: LeBum.

He never apologized for jilting Cleveland but expressed gratitude for the way he was treated during his days in the team’s wine and gold.

“Seven great years, loved every moment,” he said. “Utmost respect for this franchise and for these fans.”

Cleveland native and game show host Drew Carey, Browns icon Bernie Kosar, Indians slugger Travis Hafner and most of the current Browns were cheered wildly when, just before the start, they slowly made their way to courtside seats. Cincinnati Bengals receiver Terrell Owens even was in attendance.

By far, the loudest cheers were saved for Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who had ripped James after his decision, saying he quit on the Cavaliers during their season-ending playoff series with the Celtics last spring.

It didn’t take long for the Heat to end the suspense once the game began.

Cleveland led 17-12 early, but James led the 16-0 surge that all but put the game on ice. He scored on a reverse layup in traffic to put the Heat up 19-17 at the 3:10 mark and they never looked back.

With the Cavaliers falling farther and farther behind, the fans had to content themselves with cheering each time James had a shot blocked or was called for a foul.

When he was barely bumped with 4:28 left in the first quarter by Cleveland’s Joey Graham 20 feet from the basket, he flopped onto the floor. The crowd went crazy when the replay showed the former Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School star hit the deck, with lusty boos following when it appeared he might have embellished the contact.

“It was a very good atmosphere,” Spoelstra said. “It felt like a playoff game for us.”

It felt like something far more final for the struggling Cavaliers.