By TIM REYNOLDS By TIM REYNOLDS ADVERTISING AP Basketball Writer MIAMI — Carlos Boozer turned his shoulder and knocked Dwyane Wade to the floor, while Nate Robinson shoved LeBron James as the NBA’s reigning MVP leaped near the basket. All
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
MIAMI — Carlos Boozer turned his shoulder and knocked Dwyane Wade to the floor, while Nate Robinson shoved LeBron James as the NBA’s reigning MVP leaped near the basket.
All in the same sequence, no less.
It was physical, rugged and exactly what the Miami Heat needed as part of their preparations for the playoffs, which start this coming weekend. James scored 24 points, Wade finished with 22 and the Heat set a franchise record for home wins in a season by topping the Chicago Bulls 105-93 on Sunday.
“It was good, especially against this team,” said James, who had seven rebounds and six assists. “You’re definitely not just going to show up and win against these guys. You’re going to have to work for it. So for us, to continue to get better and for us to have a really physical game, good game, testy game, we liked it.”
Chicago had more fouls (30) than field goals (29), the first time the Bulls have managed that in a regular-season game since Nov. 19, 2008.
The Bulls sent Miami to the line a season-high 41 times, and at times were so reliant on the 3-point shot that they went more than 16 minutes to open the second half without a single 2-point basket.
“We’re trying to get ready,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And you play a team that’s physical like this, it gets you ready.”
The Bulls shot 35 percent, and were far better outside the 3-point arc (11-for-26, 42 percent) than inside it (18-for-56, 32 percent). Robinson missed 11 shots himself. Miami’s “Big Three” of James, Wade and Chris Bosh missed 12 — combined.
“That’s the best team in the NBA as of right now,” Robinson said.
Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen each scored 15 for Miami, which improved to 36-4 at home — topping the 35-6 mark by the 2004-05 Heat. Bosh had 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocks for Miami, which also got 11 points from Mike Miller.
Miami is at Cleveland on Monday, with Wade, Udonis Haslem and Shane Battier not even making the trip. James said he would be a game-time decision today, but “leaning toward” not playing against his former team.
Boozer finished with 16 points and 20 rebounds for the Bulls, who snapped Miami’s 27-game winning streak last month. Luol Deng led Chicago in scoring with 19, Robinson and Kirk Hinrich scored 14 apiece and Jimmy Butler added 13 for the Bulls, who played without Joakim Noah (foot), Taj Gibson (knee), Richard Hamilton (one-game NBA suspension) and of course, Derrick Rose, who has been out all year while coming back from a knee injury.
“We just have to keep moving forward and concentrate on improving,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.
The loss keeps Chicago in the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference, just behind Atlanta. Miami has wrapped up home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, and opens the postseason at home next weekend against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bulls (43-37) are a game behind Atlanta (44-36), though Chicago would own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Chicago is at Orlando today and plays host to Washington on Wednesday. Atlanta hosts Toronto on Tuesday and closes at the New York Knicks on Wednesday.
For the Heat, that get-healthy mission has been the mantra for a few weeks now, with Wade, James, Bosh, Haslem and Battier all among those dealing with nagging issues of late.
And after Sunday, there might have been a few more bumps and bruises. There were no fewer than six instances of Heat players ending up on the floor in the first 6 minutes alone.
NUGGETS 118
TRAIL BLAZERS 109
DENVER — Andre Iguodala scored 28 points and Denver beat short-handed Portland to set an NBA franchise record with its 55th win.
Rookie Evan Fournier added 24 points for the Nuggets, who also extended their franchise-best winning streak at home to 22 straight to move a game ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis for the third seed in the West.
The Nuggets went 54-28 in both 1987-88 and 2008-09, when they reached the conference finals. They are 37-3 at home — also a team best since joining the NBA 37 years ago.
Rookie Damian Lillard led Portland with 30 points.
LAKERS 91, SPURS 86
LOS ANGELES — Dwight Howard had 26 points and 17 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers staged a dramatic rally in the fourth quarter to win their first game since losing Kobe Bryant for the season, beating the San Antonio Spurs 91-86 Sunday night to stay in position for a playoff berth.
Steve Blake scored 23 points for the Lakers (44-37), who lead Utah (42-38) by 1½ games for the eighth postseason spot in the Western Conference after their seventh win in eight games — even with Bryant watching from home. Bryant limped off the Staples Center floor with a torn Achilles tendon Friday night.
Tim Duncan had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who have lost six straight road games. San Antonio (58-22) is likely to finish second in the West behind Oklahoma City (59-21), which holds the tiebreaker.
The Lakers all shared Bryant’s playmaking and defensive duties, working together imperfectly but effectively. Blake filled in for injured point guard Steve Nash and provided an unexpected scoring punch along with top reserve Antawn Jamison, who scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles blew open a tied game with a 15-4 run midway through the fourth. Bryant’s starting replacement, Jodie Meeks, hit two 3-pointers during the rally, and Blake added three free throws in the final seconds.
Pau Gasol missed 12 of his first 13 shots before finishing with seven points and 16 rebounds.
KNICKS 90
PACERS 80
NEW YORK — Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points and New York clinched the No. 2 seed in the East with a victory over Indiana — the Knicks’ 15th win in the last 16 games.
Chris Copeland added 20 points and J.R. Smith had 15 for the Knicks, who will host seventh-seeded Boston next weekend. New York is guaranteed the home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs after finishing a distant second to Miami in the conference.
Lance Stephenson scored 22 points and West had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, who came into the game with a chance to catch the Knicks for second but settled for the No. 3 seed after fourth-place Brooklyn lost at Toronto.
RAPTORS 93, NETS 87
TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan scored 36 points, Rudy Gay had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Toronto never trailed in beating Brooklyn for its third straight victory.
Amir Johnson had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who hadn’t won three straight since a five-game winning streak from Feb. 8 to 19.
DeRozan scored 14 in the fourth quarter and finished 9-for-9 at the free throw line, converting a vital pair in the final 15 seconds.
Deron Williams scored 30 points, Brook Lopez had 16 and Andray Blatche 15 for the Nets.
76ERS 91, CAVALIERS 77
PHILADELPHIA — Dorell Wright scored 15 points and Thaddeus Young had 14 points and nine rebounds to lead Philadelphia over Cleveland.
Spencer Hawes and Jrue Holiday each added 14 points for the 76ers, who raced to a 19-point lead in the first half and sent the Cavaliers to their fourth straight loss.
Tristan Thompson had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers. Kevin Jones had 11 points and 10 rebounds, while All-Star guard Kyrie Irving had only four points in 18 minutes.
The Sixers finished 23-18 at home and are 33-47 overall a year after winning 35 games and a round in the playoffs during the lockout-shortened season.
