Monday, February 23, 2009
MIAMI (AP) -- Chris Bosh scored 29 points, LeBron James survived two scary falls and the Miami Heat used a 17-0 fourth-quarter run to erase a 10-point deficit and beat the Phoenix Suns 99-95 on Tuesday night for their 14th straight home victory.
James finished with 20 points, Dwyane Wade had 19, and Udonis Haslem added a season-high 15 for the Heat, who survived two huge late scares -- a double-digit hole, and a frightening collision between James and Grant Hill in the final minute.
James was chasing a long pass and never saw Hill, crashing into him. James went down, failing on his first attempt to get up and stayed on the court holding his head for about a minute. He remained in the game after a timeout.
Hill led Phoenix with 19 points. Marcin Gortat had 13, Markieff Morris 12, Jared Dudley 10 and Steve Nash finished with nine points and 10 assists.
The Suns had the NBA's second-best record since February 19, having won 11 of their last 14 coming in. Shannon Brown's 3-pointer with 7:29 left put Phoenix up 90-80, but the Suns missed their next 10 shots.
James, Wade and Haslem all made a pair of free throws to start Miami's late run, and the Heat tied it when Mario Chalmers stole the ball from Nash and set up Wade for a breakaway dunk.
Bosh made two more foul shots to put the Heat up for good, Wade made a layup while sprawling to the floor and stretched the lead to 95-90 after Suns coach Alvin Gentry was called for a technical, and James' jumper with 1:52 left capped the flurry.
Miami made 13 of 16 free throws in the final quarter, while Phoenix was only 3 for 4.
The Suns missed four straight shots at the rim in one stretch, all in a span of 34 seconds, and the Heat started to roll.
Dragic leads
Rockets' rally
over Lakers
HOUSTON (AP) -- Even Kobe Bryant was impressed by Goran Dragic on Wednesday night, giving the Houston point guard a quick hug at midcourt after the Rockets rallied to beat the Lakers.
Dragic hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 28 seconds left and finished with 16 points and 13 assists in the Rockets' 107-104 comeback victory. Down by nine with 5 minutes left, the Rockets had a 12-0 run to take the lead.
Luis Scola and Courtney Lee scored 23 points apiece for the Rockets. Bryant had 29 points, and Pau Gasol added 21 for the Lakers.
The Rockets snapped a two-game losing streak, while the Lakers have lost two in a row.
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