Associated Press Associated Press ADVERTISING NEW YORK — The Miami Heat finally came to Madison Square Garden, a sea of orange surrounding them in what looked like a playoff game. Maybe that’s all it took to bring out their best
Associated Press
NEW YORK — The Miami Heat finally came to Madison Square Garden, a sea of orange surrounding them in what looked like a playoff game.
Maybe that’s all it took to bring out their best on the road.
LeBron James had 29 points and 10 rebounds, Dwyane Wade added 28 points and nine boards, and the Heat overcame Carmelo Anthony’s 42 points to beat the New York Knicks 93-85 on Sunday to clinch the Southeast Division title.
Originally scheduled to be here in November, the Heat’s lone regular-season game in New York came with the compressed regular season coming to a close — and with a chance they’ll be back again soon.
“This is obviously a lot of our favorite places to play, but I think it came at a good time for us,” Wade said. “We were struggling, as in to play a complete game on the road, and what better place to come in and focus then here, where this team has been playing well and can embarrass you if you don’t play your game. So understanding that this could obviously be a first-round matchup as well, I thought today we came in, we didn’t play amazing, but played good enough to win the game. We did a lot of good things, so it was a good time for it.”
Chris Bosh finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Heat, who pulled away in the fourth quarter of a possible playoff preview. Miami is second in the Eastern Conference and the Knicks came into the game tied for seventh, although they fell back behind Philadelphia after the loss.
Anthony had only two baskets in the fourth quarter, perhaps tired from playing 43 minutes and with James switching over to defend him after Anthony had overwhelmed Shane Battier. New York had its nine-game home winning streak snapped.
Anthony had the Knicks hoping he could pull out another game against a power team after scoring a season-high 43 last Sunday in overtime against Chicago. His tip-in gave New York a two-point lead with 9 minutes left, but by the time he had his other field goal on a 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining, Miami had opened an 11-point cushion.
“It was all a blur. I don’t even know what happened. It just happened so fast. They made some tough shots down the stretch the last couple of minutes of the game, the last six minutes of the game,” Anthony said. “We couldn’t make shots. We had some good looks. Couldn’t make them. Didn’t make them.”
JR Smith scored 16 points for the Knicks, who lost all three games against the Heat. Still without the injured Amare Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin, New York didn’t have the firepower to match Miami’s Big Three for 48 minutes.
Wade moved easily and shot 10 of 18 after missing the last game to rest his ankle. Miami has won two in a row after back-to-back losses last week against Boston and Chicago.
“We got some defensive stops in Chicago, but were unable to close it out,” James said. “Tonight we were able to make some shots from the floor and then come back down and get some big stops.”
Despite their talent, the Heat haven’t measured up on the road in recent weeks, perhaps the biggest concern about them heading into the postseason. They are only 17-13 outside Miami and hadn’t beaten a team with a winning record in nearly a month.
“It’s all about perseverance and just continuing to stay with it,” Bosh said. “We know we’re a great road team, we just have to go out there and prove it night in and night out and I think we’re going to do a better job and continue to play well, and hopefully this will give us some momentum.”
Miami held a few nine-point leads in the third, but the Knicks cut it to three by period’s end, then got a tying 3-pointer from Steve Novak to open the fourth and Landry Fields followed with a basket to put New York ahead in the opening minute.
It was close for the next six minutes before Wade and James hit jumpers after Joel Anthony tipped in a miss, a flurry of six straight points that gave Miami an 87-80 lead. The Knicks, relying on jumpers most of the game, simply couldn’t hit any, and lacked much inside presence when Tyson Chandler appeared slowed by knee pain after landing awkwardly in the third quarter.
Chandler said he was hurt on a “bad collision” but expected to play Tuesday against Boston.
BULLS 100, PISTONS 94, OT
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Derrick Rose scored 24 points, including a tying 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation, and the Bulls beat the Pistons for the 15th straight time.
Rodney Stuckey scored 32 points for the Pistons, but he missed two crucial free throws late in the fourth quarter. Rose’s 3-pointer with 6.4 seconds remaining tied the game at 86 and sent it to the extra session.
Joakim Noah had 20 points and 17 rebounds for the Bulls, who are 3½ games ahead of Miami in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
MAGIC 100, CAVALIERS 84
CLEVELAND — Jameer Nelson scored 21 points and the Magic clinched a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
Orlando led from wire-to-wire despite playing without star center Dwight Howard, who has missed the last four games with a herniated disk in his back.
The news the Magic made the postseason took a back seat to the team’s injury list, which seems to grow by the day. Howard and forward Hedo Turkoglu (facial fracture) are sidelined indefinitely. Coach Stan Van Gundy said before the game he’s preparing to play the rest of the regular season and the playoffs without the two players.
RAPTORS 102, HAWKS 86
ATLANTA — DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points and the injury-riddled Raptors beat the Hawks for their second straight win over a playoff-bound team.
Alan Anderson, one of three Toronto players whose 10-day contract is about to expire, added 16 points for the Raptors, who were coming off an 84-79 win against Boston on Friday.
KINGS 104, BLAZERS 103
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Marcus Thornton scored 20 points and made the winning jumper with 3.4 seconds left, lifting the Kings to a victory over the Trail Blazers.
Thornton hit a 17-footer off an inbound pass before Portland’s Raymond Felton missed a desperation shot from halfcourt at the buzzer.
CELTICS 94, BOBCATS 82
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rajon Rondo had 20 points and 16 assists to help the Celtics beat the Bobcats despite playing without three of their star players.
Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were given the night off to rest and did not make the trip to Charlotte, N.C. to face the NBA-worst Bobcats. But the Celtics won anyway as Avery Bradley and Brandon Bass each scored 22 points.
HORNETS 88,
GRIZZLIES 75
NEW ORLEANS — Eric Gordon scored 18 points and the Hornets won for the fourth time in five games, upsetting the playoff-contending Grizzlies.
Saints owner Tom Benson attended his first game since Friday’s announcement that he had agreed to buy the Hornets from the NBA. He received a standing ovation, and the Hornets kept the applause coming as they pulled away in the fourth quarter from a Grizzlies squad that had won five of its previous six games.
NUGGETS 101,
ROCKETS 86
DENVER — Arron Afflalo scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, leading the Nuggets to a win over the Rockets in the opener of a crucial home-and-home set between playoff hopefuls.
The teams play again in Houston on tonight.
With the win, the Nuggets took sole possession of seventh place in the Western Conference, a-half game behind Dallas.
