AFP/Los Angeles

Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant drives around San Antonio Spurs Manu Ginobili, of Argentina, as Lakers’ Andrew Bynum and Spurs’ Tim Duncan look on during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles, on Thursday. (Reuters
LeBron James scored 51 points, the most by any player in an NBA game this season, as the Miami Heat held off a late rally to beat the Orlando Magic 104-100 on Thursday.
James, who added 11 rebounds and eight assists, matched the fifth-best point total of his career, set a Heat club record by scoring 23 points in the first quarter and had a personal best by making his first 11 shots from the field.
“Just playing this team got me going,” James said. “We understand that it wasn’t just any regular-season game.
“There were a lot of things said about us in the offseason that came from this organization. So we just wanted to come in here and play to our abilities and make a statement.”
The reigning NBA Most Valuable Player went 9-for-9 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the first quarter, scoring all but seven of Miami’s points as the Heat took a 30-26 lead in the opening 12 minutes.
The old mark for points in the first quarter by a Miami player was 21 by Alonzo Mourning against Washington on March 29, 1996.
When James departed Cleveland for Miami last July, Orlando Magic president Otis Smith remarked, “I thought he was, I guess, more of a competitor.”
James has made several references to the remark since, including earlier this week ahead of the Heat-Magic matchup.
“Anybody that questions my competitiveness, they must be looking at the game the wrong way,” James said.
James added six points in the second quarter, helping his team to a 55-45 half-time advantage.
By making his first 11 shots overall, James set a personal mark for the most consecutive baskets made at any point in any game in his NBA career, eclipsing his 10 in a row to start a game against Chicago in April 2008.
James reached 40 points after three quarters, helping Miami to a 79-63 edge entering the fourth quarter. Orlando battled back but never drew level with Miami.
“We just let our guard down,” James said. “We can’t do that as a veteran ball club. You could tell by the look on the guys’ faces that we weren’t satisfied with the way we finished the game out. That’s always a good sign.”
The Heat also lost guard Dwyane Wade to a lower back bruise only 2:17 into the third quarter when he took a hard foul from Magic center Dwight Howard on a drive to the basket in a collision of NBA All-Stars.
Wade finished with 14 points while Chris Bosh added 13 for Miami, who won their fourth in a row.
Jameer Nelson led Orlando with 22 points while Howard had 17 points and 16 rebounds and Jason Richardson scored 16 for the Magic. Howard managed only one point in the second half, however, and missed 10-of-13 free throws.
“We need to do the things we need to do to get ourselves ready, individually and collectively,” Nelson said. “We shouldn’t have to come out and talk about energy or intensity every night. That should be a given.”
Miami improved to 35-14, second to Boston in the Eastern Conference with a four-game edge on Atlanta in the Southeast division. Orlando slid to 31-19, another half-game back in the same division, with a fourth loss in six games.
“You have got to be on top of your game and for 42 minutes we played as well and as efficient as we can on both ends of the court,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We had an unfortunate six-minute lapse, but I’m not going to let that take away from the win. It was a good win.