Miami improved to 7-1 without Dwyane Wade in the lineup, as Chris Bosh lifted the Miami Heat over Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 92-85 victory on Tuesday.

Chris Bosh scored 17 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter to help the Heat overcome an off-night by LeBron James and the absence of Wade (ankle). James struggled against his former team in their first meeting of the season. It was the fifth match-up between the Heat and Cavaliers since LeBron departed Cleveland to take his talents to South Beach. The two-time league MVP turned in one of his worst performances of the year, shooting 8-of-21 to finish with 18 points, on 1-of-5 shooting and 0-of-1 from the stripe in the fourth. But despite his poor performance, Miami improved to 4-1 against Cleveland since the Big Three joined the Heat.

Kyrie Irving, who was Cleveland’s No. 1 overall draft pick and heir apparent after James as the face of the Cavaliers franchise, finished 17 points on 7-of-11 shots from the field with four rebounds and four assists. But Cleveland’s 22 turnovers to Miami’s 17 in the game; hurt the young Cavs’ in the end.

The game wasn’t much of a contest after the first two quarters. On Sunday, Miami had 22 turnovers against the Milwaukee Bucks. Against the Cavaliers, the Heat committed 10 turnovers in the first half. The score was knotted at 37 at the half before things picked up somewhat in the third. Irving used a screen to zoom past LeBron, then hop-stepped in the lane to finish a strong reverse through a maze of three Heat defenders to give the Cavs’ a brief 45-43 advantage. That’s when things began to click for Miami. The Heat went on a 12-2 run that included a 3-pointer by Shane Battier (three points) followed by a dunk from James and then a 3-pointer from about 30 feet as the shot clock expired to concluded LBJ’s offensive spurt.

The Heat led by three points, 61-58, at the end of the third and outscored the Cavaliers 31-27 in the final period. Miami rookie Norris Cole, who was a collegiate star at Cleveland State, had 10 points off the bench and hit a crucial jumper to put Miami in front 67-61 with 9:10 to play. But the fourth-quarter belonged to Bosh. He scored 11 of the Heat’s 15 points during a critical stretch in the game’s final five minutes. His three-pointer with 4:26 left gave the Heat an eight-point lead, 75-67. After Irving connected on a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to three, Bosh went back to work. His three-point play with 2:37 remaining put the Heat ahead, 80-74. He took a pass from James, drove strong to the basket against Cleveland’s Alonzo Gee (seven points); fell to the court as his shot dropped to set up the “And one.” On the ensuing play, Bosh faked Cavs’ forward Antawn Jamison (five points) into the air and made an 18-footer pushing Miami’s lead to eight. But Irving, who is the runaway for rookie of the year this season, wouldn’t surrender. His driving layup cut the Heat’s lead to three, 88-85, with nine seconds to play. But clutch free throw by Miami point guard Mario Chalmers (nine points) and forward Udonis Haslem (10 rebounds) sealed the win for the Heat.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Bosh’s 35 points was his fourth 30-point game this season and tied his high with the Heat, which he set last season against the Phoenix Suns. He had 17 points in the final period, on 5-of-7 shots from the field and was perfect from the free throw line going 14-for-14. He finished 10-of-16 from the field, including 1-of-1 from three-point range. Bosh is 6-of-20 from 3-point range this season. Miami committed 18 turnovers, leading to 22 Cleveland points, but found a way –thanks to Bosh- down the stretch. Miami (12-5) will travel to Detroit on Wednesday to face the Pistons.

The Cavs’ power forward Samardo Samuels made his first seven shots and finished with 15 points for Cleveland. Anderson Varejo finished with a double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds, and guard Ramon Sessions contributed 10 points. Cavaliers’ rookie forward Tristan Thompson missed the game with a sprained left ankle, though he is expected to be listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game in Cleveland against the New York Knicks. Cleveland (6-10) will look to avenge this loss when they return to the American Airlines Arena on Feb. 7. James’ lone trip back to the Q is set for Feb. 17.