Winning time

MIAMI — Goran Dragic needed a moment, a way to close out 2017 on a high note after a mostly miserable December that saw him previously shoot 50 percent or better just twice and miss three games with a sore left elbow.

On the eve of New Year’s Eve the Miami Heat point guard got that moment, not only scoring 25 points in Saturday’s 117-111 victory over the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center — his highest-scoring game since scoring 27 Nov. 22 against the Boston Celtics — but scoring 14 of those points in the fourth quarter on his 11-of-22 night from the field.

“You love to see it because he cares so much,” said coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team resumes its schedule Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena against the Detroit Pistons. “He wears all of it on his sleeve. When we lose, he doesn’t sleep at night.

“He doesn’t have to feel like he has the entire franchise’s pressure on his shoulders. He just has to be who he is, compete, lead as a captain.”

And lead he did, closing with a season-high eight assists, matching James Johnson for the most by a Heat player this season.

“It’s great,” Dragic said of finding his way, his left elbow now taped instead

While the goal never is to fall behind by 18, Spoelstra said battling back from that deficit in Orlando showed his players the desperation needed to make a move in standings.

“That just has to be the nature of this team,” he said. “You have to absolutely embrace what our road map is to win games. And it takes a great deal of effort, takes that kind of feeling after the game, where everybody is putting