LeBron James’ quest to play all 82 games in a NBA season will continue for another year after he was rested by Cleveland coach David Blatt for the first time this season.

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James was left out of the Cavs side as they went down 99-84 to his former team the Miami Heat on Saturday night, in a hugely lopsided loss, that only further emphasised how important he is to Cleveland.

Blatt admitted after the game it was his decision to stand down his superstar following Friday’s gruelling overtime defeat to New Orleans, in which James played 45 minutes.

“It was me,” Blatt said. “He wanted to play. No question.”

When asked if the 11-time NBA All Star was disappointed, Blatt added: “I think yes, honestly. But that’s one of those things that I sort of had to force the issue on that. Like everyone else, he was a little sore. That was a tough game, but no physical problem. No injury or something like that.

“It was something that certainly was on my mind because I know that this is a special place for Bron, and the people here want to see him and I totally understand that.

“I understand that aspect of it, but under the circumstances, I got to think about him first and about the team going forward.”

James’ minutes are being closely monitored this season as the Cavs want their No. 1 player 100 per cent fit for the playoffs. He has endured a series of back problems and is averaging 36.9 minutes per game so far this campaign, a slight increase on the 36.1 last year.

“We want him to play as much as he can and as much as is manageable,” Blatt added. “He’s in good shape and he came into this season in great shape. Again, we’ll be monitoring and we’ll be keeping a close eye on how the best way to go through the season is with him.”

Cleveland have now lost their last 10 games in Miami and while they are 13-7 for the season are a poor 5-6 across their past 11 games.

“A good professional win,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I liked our guys’ approach.”

Heat fans jeered their ex-star, chanting, “LeBron is tired,” drawing a big smile from James who replied by twirling the two rings on his fingers, in reference to the championships he won in Miami.