FP – Dwyane Wade scored 26 points, LeBron James had 19 with 12 rebounds and eight assists, and the visiting Miami Heat used a late 15-0 run Friday night to pull away from the Philadelphia 76ers, 99-79.
Thaddeus Young netted 16 points off the bench, while Jodie Meeks and Lou Williams contributed 13 points apiece for the Atlantic Division Sixers (16-7), who have dropped nine consecutive regular-season meetings in the series.
“We wanted to come here and make a statement and we did that tonight,” James said. “If we want to hold ourselves to a championship standard we need to play as close to 48 minutes as possible.
“Tonight was probably the best game from start to finish as far as playing hard and communicating at both ends that we’ve had this season.”
Dwight Howard had 19 points, 16 rebounds and eight blocks, powering the Orlando Magic to its seventh straight victory over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, 102-94.
Paul George fired in seven threes en route to a career-high 30 points and the Indiana Pacers snapped a seven-game skid at Dallas, beating the Mavericks at American Airlines Centre for the first time since 2004.
German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki paced the reigning NBA Champion Mavericks with 30 points, before saying the team missed injured point guard Jason Kidd, who is out with a calf injury.
“Without Kidd out there directing the ball, it’s hard,” said Nowitzki, who took just two shots in the third quarter.
“And then finally in the fourth quarter I just ran to the ball, wherever it was, just basically (said), ‘Give it to me.’ I just decided to run to the ball every time down.”
Kevin Durant scored seven of his 36 points in the final minute, including the tie-breaking triple, lifting the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma Thunder (18-4) past the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, 101-94.
Andrew Bynum had 22 points with 10 rebounds, Kobe Bryant collected 20 points with nine assists and the LA Lakers slipped past the Denver Nuggets, 92-89, in the opener of a season-high six-game road trip.
Al Harrington led Denver with 24 points, but missed the potential go-ahead three-pointer with two seconds left.
In Boston, Celtics forward Kevin Garnett grabbed his 10,000th career defensive rebound as the Celtics edged the New York Knicks 91-89.
Garnett became the third player in NBA history to reach the mark, joining former Celtic Robert Parish (10,117) and Karl Malone (11,406).
Elsewhere: the Houston Rockets routed the visiting Phoenix Suns 99-81; the Minnesota Timberwolves clipped the host New Jersey Nets 108-105; the Toronto Raptors whipped the visiting Washington Wizards 106-89; and the Detroit Pistons bounced the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 88-80.
