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Danie Gibson was fashionably late, leaving LeBron James to fill in at point guard until his arrival. As usual, The King didn’t disappoint.

James scored a game-high 36 points in the first half, out-dueling fellow superstar Dwyane Wade, to lead the Cavaliers to a 102-86 victory over the visiting Miami Heat.

The 25-year-old started at point guard for the first time in nearly two years and played to rave reviews.

With the ball in his hands to begin most first-half possessions, James took it upon himself to attack the rim.

He scored 19 points in the opening half, including an 11-12 performance from the free-throw line, and also added three rebounds and four assists. The big half from James sent the Cavaliers into halftime with a 56-52 advantage.

“With me being able to get the ball off outlets and rebounds, I can go coast to coast,” said James after the game. “I can do a lot of things point guards can’t do, so I was aggressive and they fouled me.”

Although he played the point with great success, James moved back to his normal small foward position in the second half.

Gibson arrived to the Cavaliers bench midway through the second quarter and started at point guard to begin the second half. He had been at an area hospital with his pregnant fiancee, recording artist Keyshia Cole, who had a false labor.

“She (Cole) was pushing me to get here just as much as I was trying to get here myself,” said Gibson. ”It was all in fun and good spirits.”

Cavs coach Mike Brown made sure to take advantage of his ’fresh new’ point guard after halftime.

Gibson played nearly the entire second half, only coming out for the final 1:28 of the third quarter. In his 23 minutes of action, he scored 12 points, including two big fourth-quarter three pointers that helped put a Heat comeback out of reach.

Those two threes came after the Cavaliers used the third quarter and early fourth quarter to build up a sizeable advantage. They outscored the Heat 25-21 in the third and went on a 7-0 run to begin the fourth.

Hurting Miami’s hopes of a win was the early second-half struggles of Wade. He shot 0-7 from the floor in the third, leaving most of the team’s scoring up to his over-matched supporting cast.

“We try to see what type of rhythm he’s going to be in to start the game, said James. “If he gets into a really good rhythm, we try to switch the defense to put more pressure on him. We even double him sometimes to make him give up the ball and have other guys try to beat us.”

Jermaine O’Neal and Michael Beasley did combine to score 18 points in the third, but the rest of the team made just one shot in the period. Against a top team like the Cavaliers, that isn’t enough.

Outside of Wade, who finished with 24 points, O’Neal and Beasley, no Heat player scored in double figures in the game.

“I understand this team (Cavaliers) has NBA championship aspirations,” said Wade. “We don’t. We don’t have that. We’re focusing on trying to concentrate on getting to the playoffs.”

Wade’s teammate from the 2008 Olympics, James, is aware he has the players around him to make a deep run in the postseason. Two of those players, Shaquille O’Neal and J.J. Hickson, had big nights.

O’Neal finished with 13 points and eight rebounds as he continues to look more active since injuries to Mo Williams and Delonte West forced the Cavaliers to make a more conscious effort at getting him the ball in the post.

He is averaging 15.8 points per game during the Cavaliers current winning streak, which is now up to 10 games.

O’Neal counterpart down low, Hickson, who has also had some big games during the winning streak, finished with 12 points and five rebounds.

The energy Hickson brings to the Cavaliers continues to shine through.

He dunked on Wade in the first half, then blocked a dunk attempt by the former Finals MVP in the second half.

“I thought that he did a nice job playing off of others, especially in pick and roll situations, rolling and finishing at the rim,” said Brown. ”Defensively, he was late a couple of times on rotations, but you could see his athleticism come into play tonight by changing or blocking shots at the rim.”

With Hickson and O’Neal playing well and James — who added seven rebounds and eight assists in addition to his 36 points – continuing to lead the way, it seems there’s nothing that can slow the Cavaliers down.

“Guys just step up,” said James. ”It’s tough when you have all three of your point guards out. Gibson came back in the second half and played a great game. Everyone’s role just has to increase.”