Dwyane Wade scored a season-high 40 points and added nine rebounds as the Miami Heat jumped out early and held off the visiting New York Knicks, 106-98, on Tuesday.
Chris Bosh chipped in 18 points and 10 rebounds and LeBron James collected 18, 10 and eight assists for the Heat, who have won three straight and 15 of 16.
Miami did its damage in the first quarter, using a 25-4 run to open a 34-15 lead. Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 12 points in the period and Wade added nine as the Heat took a 16-point edge into the second quarter.
The lead grew to 49-27 after Wade hit a pair of free throws with 4:33 left in the half before the Knicks woke up, pulling within 53-40 at the break.
New York had one final push in it in the fourth quarter, trimming a 15-point deficit at the beginning of the frame to three when Raymond Felton hit a technical free throw with 2:01 left. But Wade responded with a 3-pointer and James drove for a layup with 40 seconds remaining to seal it.
Amar'e Stoudemire led the Knicks with 30 points and Wilson Chandler added 21.
New York | Miami | |
Amar'e Stoudemire 30 | Scoring | Dwyane Wade 40 |
Raymond Felton 5 | Assists | LeBron James 8 |
Landry Fields 7 | Rebounds | Chris Bosh 10 |
Amar'e Stoudemire 10 | Free Throws Made | Dwyane Wade 13 |
Amar'e Stoudemire 2 | Steals | Dwyane Wade 2 |
Amar'e Stoudemire 2 | Blocks | Joel Anthony 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
New York | 98 | 41.5 | 7-24 | 23-32 | 14 | 32 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
Miami | 106 | 48.1 | 3-13 | 27-34 | 15 | 50 | 5 | 2 | 11 |