CLEVELAND: LeBron James scored 25 points as the Miami Heat overcame a 27-point deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-95 for their 24th straight victory, extending the second-longest winning streak in NBA history.
Miami is within nine games of matching the record of 33 consecutive wins held by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.
James and his teammates have insisted the record isn’t one of their goals, and for more than 30 minutes the defending champions seemed disinterested and on the verge of losing Wednesday for the first time since Feb. 1. Miami trailed 67-40 with 7:44 left in the third quarter.
But behind the irrepressible James, who added 12 rebounds and 10 assists, the Heat inched closer to history by matching the biggest comeback in the NBA this season.
James had 14 points in the fourth as Miami completed its second straight comeback. The Heat rallied from 17 down — 13 in the fourth quarter — to beat Boston 105-103 Monday night and snap a tie with the 2007-08 Houston Rockets for the second-longest winning streak in NBA history.
Although the Cavs were missing All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Anderson Varejao — their top three scorers — they pushed Miami to the limit.
Grizzlies 90, Thunder 89, OT: At Memphis, Tennessee: Marc Gasol tipped in Zach Randolph’s miss with less than a second left in overtime, lifting the Grizzlies to the win.
In a game that had all the intensity of a playoff matchup, Jerryd Bayless connected from the top of the key for Memphis with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 83. Bayless had 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Knicks 106, Magic 94: At New York, Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points to lead New York over Orlando after missing the previous three games with a knee injury. J.R. Smith had 22 points for New York, still short-handed in the frontcourt but looking much better with Anthony back. Hawks 98, Bucks 90: At Atlanta, Jeff Teague scored 27 points and Al Horford had 26, taking control after a sluggish first quarter to lead Atlanta past Milwaukee.
Teague scored 11 points in the second quarter and a dozen more in the third as the Hawks pushed out to a 77-59 lead. Horford scored 10 points in the final period and finished with 15 rebounds, stepping up to help the Hawks hold off a Milwaukee comeback.
Bobcats 107, Raptors 101: At Charlotte, North Carolina, Byron Mullens scored 25 points, Gerald Henderson had another solid all-around game and Charlotte beat Toronto to win consecutive games for the first time since mid-November.
Mullens scored 12 points in the fourth quarter. The reserve made his final eight free throws, including four with less than 13 seconds to go as Charlotte won its third straight at home.
Nets 113, Mavericks 96: At Dallas, Brook Lopez led Brooklyn with 38 points and Deron Williams had 31 in his first visit to Dallas since spurning his hometown team in free agency.
Williams scored 26 in the second half, repeatedly hitting shots and occasionally assisting on a basket by Lopez to prevent a Dallas rally in the fourth quarter.
Hornets 87, Celtics 86: At New Orleans, Anthony Davis beat Kevin Garnett and Jeff Green to a last-second tip-in, helping the Hornets end a four-game skid.
Davis, who missed the morning shootaround with an illness, finished with nine points and eight rebounds. Ryan Anderson scored 21 points and Eric Gordon had 18 for the Hornets.
Paul Pierce scored 11 of his 28 points in the last six minutes to nearly lead Boston back from a nine-point deficit, but missed a jumper with 16 seconds left that could have put the Celtics up by three.
Clippers 101, 76Ers 72: At Los Angleles, Chris Paul scored 19 points as the Clippers bounced back on the second night of back-to-back games.
Paul also had nine assists and six rebounds while Blake Griffin had a relatively quiet showing with seven points, nine rebounds and six assists. The Clippers were without Chauncey Billups and Eric Bledsoe, who were sidelined by injuries.
Los Angeles improved to 27-8 at home after losing four of its previous seven, including a night earlier at Sacramento.
Spurs 104, Warriors 93: At San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 25 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and four blocks, leading San Antonio to the win.
Tiago Splitter added 17 points, Manu Ginobili had 16 points and seven assists and fellow reserve Nando De Colo had 10 points for San Antonio (52-16), which is second to Miami (53-14) for the league’s best record.
Rockets 100, Jazz 93: At Houston, James Harden scored 29 points to help Houston improved its positioning in the Western Conference playoff race.
Jeremy Lin added 24 for the Rockets, who currently hold the No. 7 spot in the West. They lead the idle Los Angeles Lakers by 1½ games and are three ahead of the sliding Jazz.
The Rockets led by 19 points after three quarters and withstood a late surge by the Jazz to hold on for the victory.
Utah has lost 10 of its last 13 games. Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 27 points and Al Jefferson added 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Wizards 88, Suns 79: At Phoenix, John Wall scored 19 points and Washington picked up its first victory at Phoenix in more than six years.
Nene had 17 points and eight rebounds, Kevin Seraphin added 16 points and Trevor Ariza scored 14 for the Wizards, who won for the fourth time in five games. Washington improved to 6-26 away from home, tying Charlotte, Philadelphia and Sacramento for the fewest road wins in the NBA.
The Wizards played without center Emeka Okafor, who missed his first game this season with an illness. Washington snapped a five-game losing streak in Phoenix and swept the Suns for the first time since 2001-02.
Wesley Johnson and Goran Dragic scored 18 points apiece and Luis Scola added 11 off the bench for the Suns, who have lost five of six.
