Sweet 16 for red-hot Heat
Franchise-record win streak continues
MIAMI — Game on the line, LeBron James knew he was going to get to the rim. And he delivered. James scored 26 points, including a go-ahead layup after getting past DeQuan Jones with 3.2 seconds left, and the Heat scrambled late to beat the Orlando Magic 97-96 Wednesday night and extend their franchise-record winning streak to 16 games.
“I had no intention of shooting another jumper,” James said.
He missed a pair of three-pointers about 90 seconds earlier, so he went for the three-footer instead. From the right wing, James drove diagonally through the lane, then used his left hand — after all, he is left-handed — for the basket that won it for Miami. It was the first time he came up with a gamewinning basket in the final five seconds of a game since a threepointer beat the Magic in the 2009 playoffs, according to STATS LLC.
“This is tough,” Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said, after his team fell to 0-2 against Miami this season — the two losses by a total of three points. “You’ve got guys who battled, who really wanted to win this game and deserved to win this game.”
Dwyane Wade scored 24 points on 10-for-16 shooting — he’s now shooting 62 per cent in his last seven games — and Chris Bosh added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who blew a 20-point, second half lead and then rallied from a five point deficit in the final minutes.
Nik Vucevic had 25 points and 21 rebounds for the Magic, who got 16 points apiece from Jameer Nelson and Tobias Harris, 13 from Arron Afflalo and 12 from Maurice Harkless.
Vucevic now has two games of 20 rebounds or more in his career — both this season, and both against Miami. He had a 20-point, 29-rebound effort in a loss to the Heat on Dec. 31. But he was one of three Magic players to foul out in the final minutes, as Orlando let a golden chance go awry.
The foul discrepancy in the game — 30 for the Magic, 17 by Miami — was a hot topic in the Orlando locker-room afterward. The Magic went 10 for 12 from the foul line, Miami 27 of 31.
Perhaps the biggest two calls of the game came late, and both went Miami’s way, although the Heat didn’t like one of those at first.
Nelson hit a jumper with 1:36 left, giving the Magic a 96-93 lead. James missed two threes on the next Miami possession, and on the ensuing Miami trip, Harris drove from the left baseline but his basket was waved off, with Shane Battier beating him to the spot and drawing an offensive foul, Harris’ sixth of the night.
Battier said he had no hesitation about the charge.
“He is defined by winning plays,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He just continues to make them.”
Miami tried for the tie twice on the next trip, but Wade and Ray Allen missed three-pointers. Bosh was fouled on a rebound — the sixth on Vucevic, making him the third Orlando player to reach the limit in the final minutes. Bosh made both free throws to get the Heat within one with 38 seconds remaining.
Al Harrington missed a wild three, and James got the rebound to seal the stop Miami desperately needed. So with 12.6 seconds left, the Heat got the ball and a chance to win.
Spoelstra had told referees that if Miami got a stop, the Heat did not want a timeout. One was whistled anyway, and Spoelstra said that referees apologized for the miscommunication afterward. No matter — the play got set up, the ball went to James, and he delivered in the clutch.