Hungry Heat snap five-game slide, end Lakers' eight-game run

By Paul Levine Mar 11, 2011, 7:36 GMT

Los Angeles - Chris Bosh bounced back in a big way, and Dwyane Wade finished strong to put an end to the Miami's Heat's recent misery.

Bosh had 24 points with nine rebounds, while Wade scored eight of his 20 in the final quarter, and the Heat snapped a five-game slide by beating the visiting Los Angeles Lakers, 94-88 on Thursday night.

'This was a very big game, we had everything riding on it, and everybody wanted to win very badly,' said Bosh, coming off a nightmarish seven-point, 3-for-11 shooting effort in Monday's 105-96 loss to Portland.

'I was aggressive coming to the ball. I wasn't playing around. I was just going to focus on going hard.'

During the slide, the Heat surrendered double-digit second-half leads before bowing to New York, Orlando and Chicago. This time, however, there would be no collapse.

'It feels good to win a game the way you've been losing,' Wade said. 'We made plays at the end.'

LeBron James collected 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while Mike Miller chipped in with 12 points and seven boards off the bench for Miami (44-21), which clinched a playoff spot following just its second win in the last eight outings.

'A better game for us and we got a better result,' a much-relieved Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. 'You saw a real sense of urgency and desperation, but also a lot of trust.

'This is one game, though, we're not over the hump,' he cautioned. 'We still need to improve and get better. We've got to keep moving forward.'

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers (46-20) with 24 points but missed three shots late in the game and committed two turnovers.

Spanish-native Pau Gasol had 20 while Andrew Bynum finished with 13 and 12 boards for the two-time defending champions, who entered the showdown on an eight-game winning streak but left having been swept in the two-game season series.

'We didn't protect the rim,' said Bryant, whose team shot an icy 29 per cent in the second half. 'We've done a good job and then in the fourth quarter we let Wade get all the way to the basket on those screen and roll actions and it cost us.'

With neither team able to take control, Wade carried the Heat down the stretch at both ends, slashing to the basket for layups and pressuring Bryant - arguably the game's top closer - on the defensive end.

'D-Wade accepted the challenge,' James said.

Wade's driving layup gave the Heat an 84-82 lead with 4:26 to play, but Bryant buried a three-pointer and the Lakers took it back.

After Bosh scored inside for an 86-85 advantage, Bryant missed, and Wade took a pass from James for another layup, giving Miami a three-point edge. Bryant, however, knocked down another triple, squaring it at 88-88 with 2:26 left.

Wade, then, deflected the ball away from Bryant and fed James for a break-away dunk to put the Heat back on top 90-88, sending the crowd at the AmericanAirlines Arena into a frenzy.

After Bryant missed a jumper and Ron Artest failed on the put-back, Wade used a nifty cross-over dribble to get past Bryant and around Gasol for a yet another layup, making it 92-88 with 46.0 seconds left.

'I wanted to take the ball to the basket instead of settling for jumpers, 'Wade said. 'I'm a pretty good finisher. I just wanted to get a win tonight.'

Bryant lost the ball under the Lakers' basket five seconds later, and missed a long three before James sank two free throws with 19.2 seconds remaining to seal the much-needed victory.

'We knew this game was going to come down to the end,' Wade said. 'We had to figure out a way and find a way, and we did that.'

Elsewhere in the NBA:

Dallas Mavericks 127, New York Knicks 109

German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki scored 23, Shawn Marion had 22 while Jason Terry added 21 as the Mavericks (47-18) built a 26-point cushion before cruising past the visiting Knicks for their 20th win in the last 23 games. Amar'e Stoudemire powered for 36 points despite a left shoulder bruise to pace the Knicks (34-30), whose three-game winning streak ended.

Denver Nuggets 116, Phoenix Suns 97

Brazilian centre Nene scored 22 points, Ty Lawson had 20 with 11 assists as the visiting Nuggets (38-27) beat the Suns in the desert for the first time in 13 visits. Polish-native Marcin Gortat had 14 points and 18 rebounds off the bench for Phoenix (33-30), which committed 20 turnovers, leading to 32 points in the rout.

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