By IAN HARRISON ADVERTISING By IAN HARRISON Associated Press TORONTO — The Miami Heat had to work a little harder than they wanted for their ninth straight victory. LeBron James scored 27 points, Dwyane Wade had 22 and the surging
By IAN HARRISON
Associated Press
TORONTO — The Miami Heat had to work a little harder than they wanted for their ninth straight victory.
LeBron James scored 27 points, Dwyane Wade had 22 and the surging Heat beat the Toronto Raptors 90-83 on Friday.
Still, it didn’t come easy for Miami, who watched a 20-point third-quarter lead whittled down to two points with less than five minutes to go in the fourth.
“We would have loved to push that huge lead up in the third and just keep it going but they’ve got some good players,” James said. “They got stops, we turned the ball over, we didn’t execute and they got back into the game. But we finished it out.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his team became frustrated as they shot 4-for-18 from the field in the fourth, allowing Toronto back into the game.
James, who had six rebounds and three assists, said he was looking forward to a day off Saturday after injuring his back in a collision with Toronto’s Tyler Hansbrough.
DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points and Rudy Gay had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who lost their second straight. Kyle Lowry had 15 for Toronto.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook’s 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left in overtime sent the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 113-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
The Thunder had plenty of chances to tie or take the lead in the final seconds but kept coming up empty — though getting more chances — before Westbrook drained the corner 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
Westbrook scored a season-high 34 points on 10-of-25 shooting, Kevin Durant added 25 and the Thunder won their sixth consecutive game overall and ninth straight at home to start the season.
Stephen Curry scored 32 for Golden State and Harrison Barnes had a career-high 26 points.
HOUSTON — Chandler Parsons scored 21 points, making six 3-pointers, and Houston easily picked up its fourth straight win by beating Brooklyn.
The Rockets led by 26 points at halftime and Brooklyn coach Jason Kidd benched all his starters except Brook Lopez for the entire second half.
Houston made 19 3-pointers, led by a perfect 6-of-6 effort from Parsons, who scored all his points in the first three quarters. James Harden scored nine points with seven assists for the Rockets in his return after missing three games with a sore left foot.
Lopez was also back after sitting out the last six games with a sprained left ankle. He started in place of Kevin Garnett and scored 16 points in about 21 minutes.
ATLANTA — Al Horford made the go-ahead shot with 4.2 seconds left and Atlanta rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half to beat Dallas.
Jeff Teague scored 25 points for the Hawks, while Horford finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Mavericks were up 70-55 when point guard Jose Calderon went out late in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle. He was taken for X-rays and did not return.
Without Calderon running the offense, Dallas totally bogged down. Rookie guard Shane Larkin had a miserable night, going 0 for 4 from the field and turning it over four times. The Mavericks hit just 38 percent, with Vince Carter missing badly on the final shot of the game.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Wesley Johnson scored 27 points, and Jordan Farmar led a fourth-quarter rally by Los Angeles, which overcame a 10-point deficit to beat Detroit.
Dominated around the basket for most of the night, the Lakers held on when Detroit’s Josh Smith drove into traffic and was called for an offensive foul with 2.7 seconds left and the Pistons down two. Nick Young made two free throws at the other end to put the game away.
Shawne Williams finished with 20 points for the Lakers. Farmar and Pau Gasol had 13 each.
Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 22 points, and Smith had eight points, 19 rebounds and eight assists. Detroit attempted 100 field goals, 20 more than the Lakers, and the Pistons had 22 offensive rebounds. Their 76 points in the paint set an NBA season high — but only eight of them came in the fourth quarter.
INDIANAPOLIS — Paul George scored 23 points and Roy Hibbert added 13 and eight rebounds to lead Indiana past injury-hampered Washington.
The Pacers won their sixth straight and extended their best start in franchise history to 15-1.
Lance Stephenson flirted with his third triple-double before departing late and had seven points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for Indiana, which shot 44 percent and forced 18 turnovers while limiting Washington to 40 percent shooting.
The Wizards (7-9) trailed by as many as 25 in the fourth quarter and lost their 11th straight game in Indianapolis. Star point guard John Wall struggled badly, rarely attacked the rim and finished with eight points on 4-of-14 shooting.
PHILADELPHIA — Jrue Holiday had 20 points and 13 assists in his first game as a visiting player against his former team, leading New Orleans over Philadelphia.
Eric Gordon scored 26 points and Holiday added seven rebounds as the Pelicans (7-8) snapped a four-game road skid.
Holiday, an All-Star last season for the Sixers, was sent to New Orleans in a summer trade that netted Philadelphia No. 6 overall pick Nerlens Noel and a future first-rounder.
Tony Wroten scored 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting off the bench, and Spencer Hawes contributed 12 points and nine boards for Philadelphia. Wroten (lower back) and Hawes (knee) both played for the first time in three games, but the 76ers lost for the ninth time in their last 11.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Tim Duncan scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half, Marco Belinelli also had 19 points, and San Antonio beat Orlando.
San Antonio scored 17 straight points in the second quarter, turning a one-point edge into a 58-40 lead, and was able to rest Duncan for much of the second half while Orlando couldn’t slice the deficit into single digits.
Both teams were playing without starting guards. The Spurs were without Tony Parker, who had a sprained ankle, and Orlando’s Jameer Nelson was nursing a sprained foot. Both injuries were sustained in games Wednesday night.
Arron Afflalo scored 17 points for Orlando, who now heads for a six-game, 12-day road trip. The Magic don’t have another home game until Dec. 13.
BOSTON — Jeff Green scored 31 points, the most by Boston player this season, and the Celtics beat Cleveland for their third victory in four games.
Jordan Crawford had 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for Boston, which at 7-11 has the most wins in the Atlantic Division. Avery Bradley scored eight of his 21 points in the first quarter, when the Celtics jumped to an 18-2 lead. They maintained a double-digit edge for the rest of the game.
Dion Waiters scored 21 points and Kyrie Irving had 17 for the Cavaliers, who lost their fifth straight game and fell to 1-9 on the road this season. Cleveland scored just 10 points in the first quarter, its worst output for any quarter this season.
SALT LAKE CITY — Markieff Morris scored 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting off the bench, and Goran Dragic added 19 points and nine assists to lead hot-shooting Phoenix over Utah.
Eric Bledsoe also scored 19 points off the bench and Miles Plumlee chipped in 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who beat the Jazz for the second time this month. Phoenix had no trouble getting into an offensive rhythm early, shooting 41-of-75 (54.7 percent) from the field.
It kept Utah at a comfortable distance for much of the game despite a strong offensive outing for the Jazz. Marvin Williams had 18 points and Alec Burks added 16 off the bench to lead Utah, who lost despite shooting 40-of-83 (48.2 percent) from the field.
