Overpowering Heat too much for Kobe, Lakers

LOS ANGELES Ð LeBron James had 39 points and eight assists, Dwyane Wade added 27 points on his 31st birthday and the Miami Heat held off the Los Angeles Lakers, 99-90, Thursday night to finish their six-game road trip with three wins.

Ray Allen scored seven of his nine points in the final 5 minutes as the defending NBA champions repelled a late charge by the Lakers, who lost for the seventh time in nine games.

Kobe Bryant scored 13 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter for Los Angeles, which rallied for a brief lead midway through the final period before James and Allen secured the Heat’s second win in their last eight road games against the Lakers.

In London, Carmelo Anthony returned to the site of his Olympic triumph and scored 26 points to lead New York over Detroit, 102-87.

Anthony had 18 in the first half as the Knicks (25-13) jumped out to a 16-2 lead before holding a double-digit lead for most of the game.

Amare Stoudemire added 17 points for the Knicks and J.R. Smith scored 16. Will Bynum led the Pistons with 22 points.

The Pistons (14-25) were the home team at the O2 Arena in London, the site of the Olympic gold-medal game during last year’s London Games. It was the third regular-season NBA game played at the venue, where the then-New Jersey Nets swept the Toronto Raptors in a pair of games two years ago.

Anthony and Knicks teammate Tyson Chandler were on the team that celebrated a gold medal for the United States with a win over Spain in August. Chandler scored 10 points on Thursday and pulled down 14 rebounds.

Anthony has at least 20 points in 25 straight games, extending the longest streak of his career.

In Minneapolis, Jamal Crawford scored 22 points, Blake Griffin added 20 and Los Angeles hardly broke a sweat in cruising past free-falling Minnesota, 90-77.

Lamar Odom grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out six assists, and the Clippers outscored Minnesota’s bench 45-23 to overcome Chris Paul’s third straight missed game because of a knee injury.

Luke Ridnour scored 21 points and Ricky Rubio had four points and six assists in his first start of the season for the Timberwolves, who lost leading scorer and rebounder Nikola Pekovic to a bruised right quadriceps in the third quarter.