LeBron James scored 25 points and Chris Bosh added 24 as the Heat beat the winless Washington Wizards 103-93 on Sunday to end a rare two-game slide.
Dwyane Wade scored 20 points for Miami, who have not dropped three straight regular-season games since January last year. The Heat had 32 assists on 37 field goals, including all nine of their baskets in the third quarter.
“That’s what we do,” James said. “We understand that it’s easy for everyone when we move the ball, share the ball and we play like that.”
Photo: AFP
Bradley Beal scored 19 points, while Marcin Gortat finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards, who shot 43 percent and allowed the Heat to convert 21 turnovers into 25 points.
“I thought we battled well,” Beal said. “We still had a few breakdowns on defense and didn’t make a lot of shots on offense, but we did a great job moving the ball. We just have to knock down shots and limit our turnovers as much as possible.”
With two defeats in three games to open this season, Sunday marked only the second time since James, Bosh and Wade teamed up that the Heat took to the court with a losing regular-season record. The other was after their first game together in October 2010.
In other games on Sunday, the Pistons beat the Celtics 87-77 to keep first-year coach Brad Stevens winless, the Magic had a 107-86 win over the Nets, the Thunder topped the Suns 103-96, the Timberwolves beat the Knicks 109-100 and the Lakers edged the Hawks 105-103.
In Orlando, Florida, Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and 12 rebounds as the Magic routed Brooklyn in Jason Kidd’s coaching debut.
Magic rookie Victor Oladipo scored 19 points, 14 in the second half, as Orlando won back-to-back games for the first time since December last year. Andrew Nicholson added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic.
Kevin Durant had 33 points and 10 rebounds, while Russell Westbrook had 21 points and seven assists on his return from a knee injury for Oklahoma City.
Westbrook, sidelined for six months after injuring his right knee during the second game of the NBA playoffs, then having a medical setback, returned three to five weeks ahead of the team’s previously announced timetable.
In New York, Kevin Love had 34 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, while Kevin Martin scored 30 points to help Minnesota improve their winning start to 3-0 for the first time in 12 years.
Minnesota took a huge lead after a 40-point first quarter, then pulled away after the Knicks trimmed it to two in the closing minutes.
Carmelo Anthony had 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks, who have dropped two straight after a season-opening victory and drew some loud boos in the first half while appearing to be standing still on defense.
In Los Angeles, Xavier Henry scored 18 points and Pau Gasol hit two tiebreaking free throws with six seconds remaining for the Lakers.
Gasol finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Steve Nash had 13 points and six assists. Nick Young added 13 points.
Kyle Korver led Atlanta with 22 points, converting all six three-point attempts, but he missed a 21-footer from the right baseline as time ran out.
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