Dwyane Wade scored 34 points and LeBron James added 25 points and nine assists to lead the Miami Heat past the Milwaukee Bucks 101-89 on Tuesday, giving the Heat their 19th triumph in their past 20 games.
The Heat scored 13 points in a row to pull away from the Bucks, with Chris Bosh helping power Miami to victory with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
“The players probably enjoyed some other games more, but I think this was an important game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They are a very good defensive team. “A lot of times when you play against them, it’s a grind-out game, and we had to play a different kind of game, have some mental toughness and resiliency when things weren’t necessarily going our way.”
James made back-to-back lay-ups to end a six-minute scoreless span early in the third quarter.
“We give a lot of credit to that team,” James said. “We know mentally and physically we have to be in-tune to the ballgame.”
John Salmons led Milwaukee with 18 points, while Australian big man Andrew Bogut added 16 points and former Heat guard Keyon Dooling contributed 14.
“We see why this team has beaten some very good teams,” Wade said.
Bucks coach Scott Skiles was whistled for a second technical foul while trying to talk to a referee over what he considered a Miami shot clock violation and accidentally hitting Heat guard Carlos Arroyo.
“A rule is a rule, but there was a lot of 50-50 plays like that that didn’t go our way,” Bogut said. “It was a huge call, a huge momentum swing in the game.”
The Bucks fell to 5-12 on the road, one of the worst away records in the NBA.
“When we were trying to keep contact with them in the second half, it got away from us,” Skiles said. “We had a couple of missed lay-ups, a couple of open jumpers. They took control of the game and we weren’t able to get back into it.”
LAKERS 108, PISTONS 83
In Los Angeles, Pau Gasol scored 21 points as the Lakers downed Detroit.
Kobe Bryant added 17 points, moving him past Dominique Wilkins into 10th on the NBA’s career scoring list with 26,671. Andrew Bynum finished with 13 points after scoring eight of the Lakers’ first 14 points of the game. Lamar Odom had 16.
Tracy McGrady and Greg Monroe scored 14 points each, and Tayshaun Prince added 12 for the Pistons, who lost their fifth straight to the Lakers and fell to 3-16 on the road.
The Lakers had lost four of their previous six, including three at home. They had mixed results against their last two sub-500 opponents, barely beating Philadelphia 102-98 before losing to Memphis 104-85.
KNICKS 128, SPURS 115
In New York, Wilson Chandler scored a season-high 31 points as New York overwhelmed San Antonio with a sensational offensive performance.
Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton added 28 apiece for the Knicks, who snapped the Spurs’ four-game winning streak and dropped them to 29-5. New York rang up the highest point total San Antonio has allowed this season, shooting 55 percent and leading most of the way in its second straight victory.
Tony Parker had 26 points for the Spurs, while DeJuan Blair added 17, Manu Ginobili scored 15 and Tim Duncan finished with 14.
MAVERICKS 84, TRAIL BLAZERS 81
In Dallas, Jason Terry scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and DeShawn Stevenson also had 18 points as injury-depleted Dallas held on for the victory.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus Camby contributed 10 points and 20 rebounds for Portland.
Tyson Chandler added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks, who are without injured starters Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler.
Earlier in the day, the team announced that Butler would miss the rest of the season following surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn tendon in his right knee.
GRIZZLIES 110, THUNDER 105
In Memphis, Tennessee, Zach Randolph scored 31 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, and Tony Allen made two late free throws to help the Grizzlies get the win.
Allen’s two free throws with 15 seconds left gave Memphis a 108-105 lead. Thunder star Kevin Durant missed a deep 3-pointer on the next possession and Randolph sealed the win with two more foul shots.
After struggling early in the game, including three missed layups, Allen scored a season-high 19 points. Rudy Gay scored 27 points and Randolph added 16 rebounds, leading Memphis to a 42-31 advantage on the boards.
Durant and Russell Westbrook each scored 28 points for Oklahoma City. James Harden had 17.
BULLS 111, RAPTORS 91
In Chicago, Luol Deng scored 24 points to lead surging Chicago past Toronto for another victory.
Derrick Rose added 19 points and six assists for the Bulls, who have won five straight and 14 of 16. Reserve Taj Gibson had 16 points and 14 rebounds, helping Chicago to a 44-33 edge on the glass and a 58-38 advantage in points in the paint.
Andrea Bargnani, returning after missing four games with sore left calf, scored 23 for Toronto. DeMar DeRozan had 18 points.
HAWKS 108, KINGS 102
In Sacramento, California, Jamal Crawford scored a season-high 31 points and Joe Johnson had 29 as Atlanta earned its fourth victory in five games.
The Hawks squandered a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, but made 10 free throws in the final minute to beat the Kings for the sixth straight time. Josh Smith had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and -former Sacramento star Mike Bibby added nine points and 10 boards.
Tyreke Evans had 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter for the Kings, who outscored Atlanta 39-31 in the final period. DeMarcus Cousins also had a huge fourth, scoring 16 of his 24 points.
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