HE TUNED out the boos. He smiled at the derisive chants. He embraced all the negativity Cleveland could muster.
LeBron James wasn't fazed by anything.
He brought his talents back home and reminded everyone - even the haters - why he's missed.
Returning as a villain to his native state and the city he scorned this summer, James scored 38 points - 24 in a virtuoso third-quarter performance - to lead the Miami Heat to a 118-90 win over the host Cleveland Cavaliers.
By halftime, James was the one having fun. By the fourth quarter, he was watching from the bench as Cavs fans headed into the cold for a disappointing drive home.
This wasn't the payback they waited 5 months to inflict.
James simply wouldn't allow it, but insisted his beatdown wasn't personal. At one point this summer, he compiled a roster of enemies.
"Cavs fans weren't on my list," he said. "I have the utmost respect for these fans. It's nothing personal and it won't be ever."
As he did so many times during seven seasons for the Cavs, the two-time league MVP did anything he wanted on the floor. In the third quarter, he made 10 of 12 shots, jumpers from every angle and taunted Cleveland's bench after draining a seemingly impossible baseline jumper.
"I know this court. I've made a lot of shots on this court," he said. "Just wanted to be aggressive, just try to keep them out of the game. I knew they were going to try to make a run in the third quarter, but we were able to get stops and we were able to get some shots."
James said his trash-talk directed at the Cavs' bench was in fun.
"For me, it was," he said. "It was fun to have an opportunity to go against them."
With security guards forming a human barricade to line his entrance, James came hopping out of the tunnel and into the electrically charged atmosphere inside Quicken Loans Arena, as more than 20,000 fans, the same ones who once adored him, turned their fury on James.
It was rowdy, but thankfully, not violent. There were a few minor incidents in the stands.
Just in case, Moondog, the Cavs' fuzzy mascot, wore a bulletproof vest.
Booed every time he touched the ball, James scored 14 points in the first half as the Heat opened a 59-40 lead, and threatened to turn the highly anticipated game into a blowout.
James quickly made certain of one.
Miami outscored Cleveland, 36-25, in the third to open a 95-65 lead, prompting Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to pull his superstar. James spent the final 12 minutes as a spectator, glancing at the scoreboard and into the stands at so many familiar faces.
James remained defiant afterward, saying he didn't regret his decision to leave Cleveland.
"I don't want to apologize," he said. "I think my intentions were not to hurt anyone. My intentions were solely on kids during that whole process. I always say, decisions I make, I live with them. There's always ways you can correct them or ways you can do them better. At the end of the day, I live with them. I'm satisfied and happy right now."
Las Vegas placed odds on whether James would perform his pregame powder toss ritual at the scorer's table. He went through with it, leaving a cloud of dust above his head - a gesture fans here used to embrace but can't stomach any longer.
Security was super tight. One fan was immediately ejected after he pointed at James and screamed in the superstar's face before tip-off.
As the Akron native took pregame layups, Cleveland fans vented, some holding up signs that read "Akron Hates You Too," "Merry Quitness," and "Remember Game 5," a reference to his final home game with the Cavs, when he went just 3-for-14 and scored 15 in a lopsided loss to Boston in last season's Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Heat was also led by Dwyane Wade, who scored 22 points, James Jones, who had 18, and Chris Bosh, who added 15.
Daniel Gibson scored 21 for the Cavaliers, who have lost six of eight.
In another game:
* At Oakland, Calif., Jason Richardson scored 25 points and Grant Hill added 24 to lead the Phoenix Suns over the Golden State Warriors, who got 38 from Monta Ellis.
Noteworthy
* The Milwaukee Bucks waived rookie guard Darington Hobson, 5 months after selecting him in the second round of the draft. Hobson was selected 37th overall out of New Mexico after being named Mountain West Conference Player of the Year as a junior. A hip injury kept the 6-7 Hobson out of the Bucks' summer-league games. He underwent season-ending surgery on Oct. 12.
* Atlanta Hawks star Joe Johnson has had surgery on his injured right elbow and is expected to be out 4 to 6 weeks. Johnson has said the elbow has caused discomfort "off and on" this season.