The Miami Heat silenced the Cleveland Cavaliers, 98-79, at American Airlines Arena on Tuesday night, halting their two-game skid. 

At 40-35, the Heat are now percentage points behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference standings. 

The Cavaliers, meanwhile, had their five-game winning streak come to an end as they suffered their 14th straight loss in South Florida. Cleveland has not defeated the Heat on the road since January 2010. 

As a result, Cleveland (44-30) is just a half-game up on the Philadelphia 76ers for the No. 3 seed with eight regular-season games remaining. 

Based on the way the Heat defended, it's no surprise the Cavaliers couldn't exorcise their South Beach demons. 

Miami came out focused on mucking up Cleveland's offensive rhythm by disrupting passing lanes and taking away air space from jump-shooters. That strategy worked to a T. 

LeBron James—who entered Tuesday night averaging 31.5 points per game in March—was limited 18 points on as many shots. It was the first time since Feb. 23 that he failed to drop at least 20 points. 

On top of that, the Cavaliers shot a season-worst 4-of-26 (15.4 percent) from three. Plus, they had to try and solve the Heat's swarming defense without Kevin Love for all but seven minutes after the All-Star power forward had his tooth knocked loose in the first quarter: 

While Love returned to the floor in the second quarter, the Cavaliers ruled him out for the entire second half with the Heat up by 20 at the break. 

Kelly Olynyk led Miami's attack with 19 points (7-of-9 shooting) off the bench, while fellow second-unit stalwart Dwyane Wade contributed 12 points, four assists and four blocks, including a big second-quarter swat of James: 

The star of the show, though, may have been James Johnson. 

Not only did Johnson stuff the stat sheet with 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals, but he set the tone by shadowing James on defense and forcing him into six turnovers. 

Johnson refused to take full credit for slowing down the league's hottest player, however. 

"That's not a one-man job," he told TNT's Caron Butler after the win. "I give a lot of credit to my teammates. We were back early, shrieking early. So every time that he was attacking his normal transition, he was seeing a lot of bodies." 

With their sights set on a late climb up the Eastern Conference standings, Johnson and the Heat will look to produce a similar effort Thursday against the Chicago Bulls. 

The Cavaliers, meanwhile, will have a chance to remedy their offensive woes Wednesday when they head to Spectrum Center for a meeting with the Charlotte Hornets.