Miami Heat Win 17th Straight, Top 76ers 102-93

Miami extended its new franchise record

LeBron James scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Dwyane Wade added 22 points and the Miami Heat won again, pulling away late to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 102-93 on Friday night for their 17th straight victory.

Chris Bosh scored 16 points, Ray Allen added 12 and Shane Battier scored 11 for the Heat, who matched the 12th-longest winning streak in NBA history and became the first team in the league to clinch a playoff spot this season.

Down by nine in the third quarter, the Heat took a 76-75 lead when James beat the buzzer to end the period with a 3-pointer, then took control with what became a 17-4 run over a 5-minute stretch of the fourth.

Thaddeus Young scored 25 points, Dorell Wright added 14 and Spencer Hawes finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the 76ers, who lost their 12th straight on the road and 13th straight regular-season game against Miami. Jrue Holiday added a game-high 13 assists for Philadelphia.

Still, with 12 minutes to go, this one was far from over.

Philadelphia gave the Heat all they wanted for the first three quarters, taking a quick 18-11 lead, then making its first five attempts from 3-point range in the second quarter, and finally going on a spurt in the third that had Miami facing a 60-51 deficit at one point.

Much as they did in the first 16 of these wins, the Heat — now winners of 13 straight at home, heading into Sunday's playoff rematch in Miami against Indiana — found a way.

Miami had 10 assists on 12 field goals in the third quarter and took a second-half lead for the first time on a brilliant move by Bosh — who spun to his right, got fouled by Hawes and scored with his left hand anyway, all while being off-balance. His free throw put the Heat up 65-64.

Wright, whose career started in Miami, hit a 3-pointer to put Philadelphia back up 71-67, before the Heat closed the third with a trio of 3-pointers from Mario Chalmers, Battier and then James, whose buzzer-beater came seconds after he was hit in the throat area by Philadelphia's Damien Wilkins.

James shook off the hit, made the 3, then took a brief look at the Philadelphia bench for emphasis.

He was fired up, and the mood permeated everyone on the Miami side in the fourth, when the Heat pulled away.

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Miami had some big moments in the early going, including one possession where James had three offensive rebounds — two off his own misses — before scoring, and another when Chris Andersen blocked shots by Evan Turner in succession to set up a possession where James got an alley-oop dunk.

But Philadelphia didn't go away, fueled by the second-quarter 3-point barrage, and nine points by Wright in just 4:28 of the third quarter.

The fourth, however, was all Miami, even with James on the bench for the final minutes.

NOTES: Miami clinched a playoff spot with 22 games remaining, five games faster than any other team in Heat history. ... It was the 450th Heat home game, including playoffs, since Wade was drafted in 2003. Miami has won 315 of those games, exactly 70 percent. ... Hawes was 4 for 5 in the first half, then 0 for 5 in the third quarter. ... The 76ers won three road games in a four-day span of November. They're 3-21 away from home since. ... It was Miami's 105th straight home sellout, the franchise's second-longest streak. ... Wade has at least one steal in 21 straight games, matching the longest such streak of his career. ... Battier has made a 3-pointer in 18 straight games. ... James became the 70th NBA player with 1,000 3-pointers made.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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