By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
MIAMI — Best player. Best game of his career.
LeBron James clearly isn’t ready to concede his MVP award to anyone yet.
Dazzling from inside and out, James put on the best scoring show of his NBA life on Monday night, pouring in 61 points — a career high and a franchise record — as the Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Bobcats 124-107. It was the eighth straight win for the two-time defending champions, who are starting to roll as the playoffs get near.
James made 22 of 33 shots from the field, including his first eight 3-point attempts, on the way to his historic night.
“The man above has given me some unbelievable abilities to play the game of basketball,” James said. “I just try to take advantage of it every night. I got the trust of my teammates and my coaching staff to go in there and let it go.”
His career best had been 56 points, on March 20, 2005, for Cleveland against Toronto. Glen Rice scored 56 to set the Heat record on April 15, 1995, against Orlando.
James had 24 points at halftime, then added 25 in the third quarter. The record-breaker came with 5:46 left, when James spun through three defenders for a layup that fell as he tumbled to the court.
“There was an efficiency to what he was doing,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “The rim looked like an ocean for him.”
Spoelstra walked into his postgame news conference with a confession: He nearly took James out after the third quarter.
Good thing he thought better of that plan.
“He was in a great groove, obviously,” Spoelstra said.
Al Jefferson scored 38 points and grabbed 19 rebounds for the Bobcats, his huge night merely an afterthought.
This was all about LeBron.
He was hitting from everywhere, even a pull-up 3-pointer from about 30 feet — Spoelstra joked it was from 40 — late in the third quarter, as the crowd roared and the Heat bench jumped with joy.
“Yeah, that was a designed play,” Spoelstra deadpanned. “We’ve been working on that one for a while.”
When James checked out with 1:24 left, the entire Heat roster met him near midcourt for high-fives and hugs, and the sellout crowd gave him a standing ovation. A second huge roar followed when he waved to the crowd, as “M-V-P” chants rained down.
Charlotte has allowed the two biggest single-game scoring totals in the NBA this season. Carmelo Anthony had 62 points for the New York Knicks against the Bobcats on Jan. 24.
Chris Bosh scored 15 for the Heat, and Toney Douglas added 10.
Chris Douglas-Roberts and Anthony Tolliver each scored 12 for Charlotte.
Miami was without guard Dwyane Wade, who got a night off to rest. Spoelstra stressed there’s been no setback for Wade, who has been on a knee-maintenance program throughout this season and is averaging 23.5 points on 62 percent shooting since the All-Star break.
Wade probably didn’t mind sitting for this one. It gave him a courtside seat for the show.
Actually, the night started as the Jefferson show, with the Charlotte big man pretty much doing whatever he wanted early. The Bobcats made seven of their first eight shots, and a layup by Jefferson gave Charlotte a 15-6 lead with 7:47 left in the opening quarter.
By the end of the quarter, Charlotte’s lead was gone for good.
James had 11 in the first quarter, after which Miami led by three, and added 13 more in the second. His 24-point first half was the highest-scoring opening 24 minutes for the four-time MVP in nearly a year, helping stake the Heat to a 60-54 lead at the break.
Nets to re-sign Collins
NEW YORK — Jason Collins spent part of his off day on Sunday shopping at Costco.
He was wise to stock up, because he’ll be staying with Brooklyn for at least a little while longer.
The Nets plan to sign Collins to a second 10-day contract, a person with knowledge of the situation said Monday.
Collins signed his original deal on Feb. 23, becoming the NBA’s first openly gay player, and it expires Tuesday.
The Nets then will re-sign him for another 10 days on Wednesday, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the plans haven’t been made public.
After that, the Nets would have to sign him for the rest of the season if they wanted to keep him.
Collins played the final 2:41 of the Nets’ 96-80 victory over Chicago on Monday, receiving a standing ovation from a sellout crowd of 17,732 that included former NBA Commissioner David Stern when he entered. Collins missed his only shot.
“It was cool. It was a lot of fun to go into the game,” he said. “The most important thing was that we got the win.”
