NBA Round-Up: Miami Heat Snap Losing Streak in Big Win vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Dwyane Wade stole the basketball from Kobe Bryant and served up LeBron James for a game-changing fast-break to put the Miami Heat ahead of the visiting Los Angeles Lakers as the Heat pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 94-88 victory against the Lakers.
Wade scored 20 points and James added 19 points but Chris Bosh led Miami in scoring with 24 points, matching Bryant's 24 points to lead the Lakers on Thursday night in Miami. Miami had lost their five previous games and the Lakers saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end.
"We had everything riding on this game, really, to be honest with you," Bosh said after the game to the media. For the Heat, a win was desperately needed.
"We didn't want to run away from this," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We didn't want to hide from any of this. We want to get better. We want to make sure our game is right and ready when it really counts."
Bryant attempted a three-point basket with 1:06 remaining in the game, but Wade was credited with a block although Bryant said after the game he was fouled. “It’s clearly evident," Bryant said. Wade denied fouling Bryant in response.
The verbal exchanges through the media continued with Lakers head coach Phil Jackson saying before the game that he was not a fan of Miami's style of play. "You don't get too caught up in Phil's commentary," James said afterward. "Phil's going to be Phil." Jackson has made comments about Miami multiple times this season, adding fuel to the fire of what could be an NBA Finals preview.
The Heat are now 3.5 games out of the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, trailing the Boston Celtics by five games and the Chicago Bulls by three games in the loss column. The Lakers are also the third seed in the Western Conference, sitting eight games in the loss column behind the conference leading San Antonio Spurs. Thursday night's win by Miami completed a season sweep of the Lakers.
Dallas Mavericks 127, New York Knicks 109
Dallas heard head coach Rick Carlisle call his team soft and on Thursday night the Mavericks responded. Dallas overpowered the visiting New York Knicks and hit the ground running to a 127-109 victory over the Knicks, who played the previous night and escaped Memphis with a win.
"You can't win them all so you have to come back the next day and compete, and that's what we did today," Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks said. "We didn't run away with it, but at least we didn't let them right back in it. We were still able to close it out, so it was definitely a good win." Nowitzki led Dallas with 23 points and Shawn Marion added 22 points and eight rebounds.
New York received a strong effort from Amar'e Stoudemire, who led all scorers with 36 points and Carmelo Anthony chipped in with 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Anthony was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line, but the Knicks were no match for the motivated Mavericks. "It's one of those things, and we were just tired at the start," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Amar'e was huge in the second half. There was no quit in him. He played. But they just beat us."
Denver Nuggets 116, Phoenix Suns 97
The Denver Nuggets picked up a big win Thursday night and moved ahead to the fifth seed in the Western Conference while keeping the Phoenix Suns on the outside looking in. Denver's 116-97 victory ensured that the Suns could not make up any ground on the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Phoenix starters struggled to produce points all night, with Grant Hill and Hakim Warrick each leading the starters with 12 points a piece and Jared Dudley (13 points) and Marcin Gortat (14 points) provided a spark off the bench, but Denver had two starters, Ty Lawson (20 points) and Nene (22 points) score at least 20 points to lead the charge. Denver's 107.4 points per game leads the NBA in scoring average, but the 22nd ranked defense was the key to victory on Thursday.
"We had a lot of motivation going into this game. We haven't won here in seven years," Lawson said. "Everybody was playing well. Our bench, our starters, we were playing together. It was the most complete game we have played." Denver had lost 13 straight games in Phoenix and Nuggets head coach George Karl had not won a game in Phoenix since December 28, 1997 when he was head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics.
"You don't like records like that," Karl said. "As old as I get, I still don't like places I don't play well in. It comes at a good time. We are still searching for our personality and how we can come together."
