LEBRON JAMES and Kyrie Irving rested, and the Miami Heat took advantage.

    Goran Dragic scored 23 points, Hassan Whiteside had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and the Heat beat the undermanned Cleveland Cavaliers 120-92 Saturday night.

    Tyler Johnson added 17 points for the Heat, who won for the 18th time in their last 22 games and made 18 3-pointers.

    But tempers flared in the final seconds after the Cavaliers — the injured J.R. Smith, it seemed, in particular — took exception to Rodney McGruder’s exuberant tip dunk where he made contact with Cleveland’s Channing Frye with about a minute left. Benches emptied as time expired, Dion Waiters and Udonis Haslem did some pointing and shouting toward the Cavaliers, and some from both sides were playing peacemaker.

    “Ado about nothing,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

    Added Frye: “It’s not really a story. Tempers flared. It is what it is. It’s over now. They won. Congrats.”

    The teams play again in Cleveland two days later.

    The Cavaliers fell to 0-5 this season when James isn’t in the lineup, and continue to be without two other would-be starters in Kevin Love and Smith — both still recovering from surgeries. Newly signed center Andrew Bogut also wasn’t with the Cavaliers.

    Frye scored 21 points and Kyle Korver added 15 for the Cavaliers, who have lost their last 12 games in Miami.

    “We forced them to shoot long contested shots,” said Dragic, who had 10 points in the third as Miami built a 101-75 lead. “And we played together on offense.”

    The Heat remained 1 1/2 games behind Detroit for the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference race.

    (SD-Agencies)