Streak now 25 as Heat pull away in 2nd half to beat Pistons

PHOENIX: The Miami Heat extended their winning streak to 25 games after pulling away in the second half to beating the Detroit Pistons 103-89 on Friday.
LeBron James scored 29 points, Dwyane Wade added 19 and Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers scored 11 each for Miami, which shook off yet another slow start to move within eight wins of equaling the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers for the longest winning streak in NBA history. The Heat also won at home for the 16th straight time.
James added eight rebounds and eight assists for Miami, whose magic number for clinching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference is now three.
Greg Monroe finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds for Detroit, which dropped its 10th straight game.
Washington’s Trevor Ariza hit a career-high seven 3-pointers on his way to 25 points and John Wall added 24 as the Wizards rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 103-100 in Kobe Bryant’s return from a two-game absence with a sprained left ankle.
Wall had 16 assists, and Nene scored 15 points for the Wizards, who won their second straight while improving to 7-26 on the road.
Bryant finished with 21 points and 11 assists, and Dwight Howard had 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers.
At Orlando, Florida, Kevin Durant scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and Russell Westbrook had 19 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder ended a two-game losing streak by beating the Magic 97-89.
Maurice Harkless scored 25 points and Jameer Nelson had 16 for Orlando, which lost its sixth straight.
New York clinched a playoff berth as Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points and Kenyon Martin added 19 points and 11 rebounds in the Knicks’ 99-94 win over the Toronto Raptors.
The defeat was a double blow for Toronto, which lost for the 11th time in 15 games and saw forward Rudy Gay leave in the second with a sore back. He did not return.
Alan Anderson scored a career-high 35 points, DeMar DeRozan had 18 and Jonas Valanciunas 10 for the Raptors.
San Antonio’s Tony Parker had 22 points in his return from an eight-game absence and Tim Duncan added 19 points and 16 rebounds as the Spurs sent the Utah Jazz to their third straight loss 104-97.
Kawhi Leonard added 21 points, including five in overtime, and Danny Green had 15 points for San Antonio, which remains 2љ games ahead of Oklahoma City in the West.
Mo Williams scored 23 points, Al Jefferson had 18 and Alec Burks 14 for Utah.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 22 points, Shawn Marion had a double-double in his return from a calf injury to spoil Jason Terry’s return to Dallas with a 104-94 win over the Boston Celtics.
Terry scored eight in his first game in Dallas since leaving for Boston in free agency.
The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Atlanta Hawks 104-93 for their second road win in as many nights and the Indiana Pacers downed the Milwaukee Bucks 102-78 for their third straight win.
In other games, the Houston Rockets defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-78, the New Orleans Hornets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 90-83 and the Minnesota Timberwolves were 117-86 winners over the Phoenix Suns.