MIAMI (AP) No blowout this time for the Miami Heat. They can beat the Knicks with a grind-it-out finish, too.
Dwyane Wade scored 15 of his season-high 40 points in the fourth quarter, LeBron James and Chris Bosh each finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and the Heat held off a late comeback to beat New York 106-98 on Tuesday night, Miami's 15th win in its last 16 games overall and its seventh straight over the Knicks.
Wade hit a step-back 3-pointer with less than 2 minutes left to stop one New York run, and James essentially sealed it by blowing past Danilo Gallinari for a layup and seven-point lead with 40 seconds remaining.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 14 points and added 10 rebounds for the Heat, who won by 22 in New York on Dec. 17 and led this one by 22 as well - then held off a big challenge down the stretch.
"I told the guys, a 22-point lead against the Knicks is similar to a seven- or eight-point game against a normal team," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "They kept on coming ... and that's what they do."
Amare Stoudemire scored 30 points for the Knicks, who lost for the fourth time in their last six games. Wilson Chandler scored 21 for New York, which got 15 from Raymond Felton, 13 from Gallinari and 11 from Toney Douglas.
"These guys are playing as well as anybody," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said of the Heat before the game, "if not the best."
At times Tuesday, those words rang particularly true.
Stoudemire had a tip-in to make it 97-93 with 2:02 left, and Spoelstra drew a technical for arguing from referee David Guthrie that it should have been offensive interference. Felton hit the free throw and suddenly, it was a one-possession game.
Wade wasn't worried.
His 3-pointer made the lead six again, and about a minute later, he went to the floor to collect a key rebound. James went left and past Gallinari with ease on the ensuing possession, and Miami held on.
Boozer, Deng help Bulls beat Bucks
CHICAGO (AP) Carlos Boozer and Derrick Rose stuck to the simple game plan in the fourth quarter that helped make Boozer a star in Utah.
Boozer had 24 points and nine rebounds, Luol Deng scored 24 points, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks 90-77 on Tuesday night.
Derrick Rose had 18 points, 12 assists and six assists for Chicago, who has won 11 of its last 13 games.
Milwaukee was clogging up the lane for most the game, so the Bulls used the pick-and-roll to spread the floor in the fourth quarter.
"We just started to do the pick-and-roll, we stopped doing the rest of our stuff," Boozer said. "We mixed it up through the course of the game, we realized that we had a good matchup with D-Rose and I on the pick-and-roll and we just kept going to it."
Rose and Boozer are starting to jell after Boozer missed the first 15 games of the season with a broken hand.
"He is teaching me, he knows sometimes he doesn't need to set the pick or he can slip if I just drive at his man and his man stays with me I can just bounce pass and he has his left hand," Rose said. "Everything is coming to us, but we've got to continue to do it."
John Salmons scored 18 points for the Bucks, who shot a season-low 32.1 percent.
"We didn't play very well at the end. We weren't able to get anything going offensively. Somehow we hung in there," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "We couldn't score enough baskets. We couldn't find ways to score."
Trailing 45-44 at the half, the Bulls opened the second half by outscoring the Bucks 9-0. Rose started the run with a 3-pointer and had a basket to make it 52-45.
Chicago pulled away for good midway through the fourth quarter by going on a 16-4 run. Leading 69-66, Rose started it with a jumper and Chicago got consecutive 3-pointers from Rose and Kyle Korver to make it 86-72.
Magic hit 19 3-pointers in 110-95 win over Cavs
CLEVELAND (AP) Orlando's new players are fitting in just fine.
Gilbert Arenas scored 22 points, fellow newcomer Jason Richardson added 20, and the Magic made a season-high 19 3-pointers in a 110-95 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night.
"We have shown that at any given moment that anybody can take the game over," said Arenas, who was 5 of 9 on 3-pointers.
Orlando won its fourth straight by breaking open a close game in the fourth quarter with leading scorer Dwight Howard on the bench. Howard went out with his fourth foul late in the third period and didn't play in the fourth as the Magic extended a one-point lead to 102-85 with 4:23 to play.
The Cavaliers lost for the 14th time in 15 games and are 1-13 in December. The 3-pointers allowed was their season high.
Howard wasn't on the floor with the game on the line, but it didn't matter. The Magic scored 35 points in the fourth quarter, hitting 13 of 22 from the field and 7-of-10 3-pointers. Arenas, Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark, acquired in trades on Dec. 18 as the Magic rebuilt their roster, played major roles in the victory.
"We are veterans and we all mesh well," Richardson said. "We all have great personalities and nobody has a bad attitude. We all have the same goal, and that is winning games right now."
Arenas scored nine points, all on 3-pointers, in the fourth quarter. Clark had eight points while Turkoglu added six. All of Richardson's points came in the first three quarters.
Following the game, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy was able to joke with general manager Otis Smith, the man who pulled off the trades.
"I told Otis on the way in, it took me 32 games, but we finally found our fourth-quarter lineup," Van Gundy said. "It was a great fourth quarter."
Howard also found humor with the way the game played out.
"We found out what the problem was tonight: I was," he said. "Once I stepped out of the game, it flowed a lot better."
Orlando, which attempted 31 3-pointers, had six players in double figures. Richardson made four 3-pointers, while J.J. Redick had 14 points and made all three of his 3-point tries. Jameer Nelson added 13, while Howard and Clark scored 12 points apiece.
Pierce leads Celtics past Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Boston Celtics played like a championship-caliber team for the final 12 minutes on Tuesday, and that was enough against the up-and-coming Indiana Pacers.
Indiana led for all but a few minutes in the first three quarters, but Boston outscored the Pacers 29-16 in the fourth while holding them to 26 percent shooting for a 95-83 victory.
"We just kept playing defense," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "Then all of a sudden, our shots started falling and our defense stayed."
Paul Pierce scored 21 points, Ray Allen added 17 and Kevin Garnett had 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Boston point guard Rajon Rondo missed his fifth straight game with a sprained left ankle. The Celtics improved to 4-1 without him and maintained the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics were coming off an 86-78 loss at Orlando on Christmas that ended a 14-game winning streak.
"You always want to get back on track, especially after a tough loss," Pierce said. "All of these road games are tough, no matter who you're playing because teams are comfortable in their home environment."
Glen Davis scored 14 points and former Pacer Marquis Daniels added 12 for the Celtics. They combined for eight points and two assists during the 13-2 run to start the fourth quarter that put the Celtics in control for good.
Daniels entered the game with his Celtics trailing 60-53 in the third quarter. The 6-foot-6 guard used his height advantage against Indiana's 6-footers Darren Collison and T.J. Ford.
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