Mario Chalmers scored 13 points, and Chris Bosh had 12 for Miami, which trailed by 11 in the first half before a comeback fueled in part by Russell Westbrook pulling James down from behind on a fast break in the second quarter.
Kevin Durant scored 30 points for Oklahoma City, and Westbrook added 28, but shot 9 for 26. James Harden had 12 for the Thunder, who lost despite holding Miami to 37 percent shooting.
The win moved Miami (39-14) within two games of Chicago (42-13) in the race for the NBA’s best record. Oklahoma City fell to 40-14.
Durant could have given Oklahoma City the lead with 1:30 left, backing down James and then trying a turnaround from the left side. His shot was way off, hitting the top of the backboard.
Bosh, who had been 3 for 13 to that point, made a jumper on the next Miami possession to make it 96-93. Kendrick Perkins then missed two free throws with 43.6 seconds left, the first Thunder misses from the line all night after starting 18 of 18.
And after James couldn’t connect on the ensuing Miami trip, it was still a one-possession game. The Thunder called a timeout with 19.5 seconds left and went for the quick 3, Durant’s try hitting the front of the rim and going out of bounds. Wade made a pair of foul shots, stretching the lead to five.
In Los Angeles, Andrew Bynum scored 36 points, Kobe Bryant added 31 and the first-place Lakers outlasted the Clippers 113-108, widening their Pacific Division lead to 2 1/2 games over the second-place Clippers and snapping their rival’s winning streak at six games.
By taking two out of three against their Staples Center co-tenants, the Lakers also earned the head-to-head tiebreaker in a game that could help decide the division winner and playoff seeding in the West. The division winner will likely earn the No. 3 seed behind Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
Former Laker Caron Butler scored 28 points to lead six Clippers in double figures. Chris Paul added 22 points and 16 assists, Blake Griffin had 15 points and 14 rebounds, and DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the West’s fourth-place team — the designated home team. Their winning streak was the franchise’s best in 20 years.
Ramon Sessions added 16 points and eight assists to help the Lakers win their fourth in a row.
In Boston, Tim Duncan had 10 points and 16 rebounds and San Antonio won its ninth straight game, recovering to beat Boston after blowing a 17-point, first-half lead.
Duncan also stopped Paul Pierce on the final play, forcing him into a fallaway jumper that bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
Danny Green scored 14 points, and Gary Neal had 13, including a 3-pointer with 2 minutes left that gave the Spurs the lead after Boston went on a 13-4 run to move in front.
Rajon Rondo had 17 points and 11 assists for Boston. The Celtics had won five in a row.
Pierce had 15 points and 10 rebounds, but he couldn’t maneuver into open space after Boston inbounded the ball with 7.9 seconds left. Avery Bradley scored 19 points off the bench for Boston, and Kevin Garnett had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Ray Allen returned after missing six games with a sore right ankle and added seven rebounds and five points, including a 3-pointer in the final minute.
In Milwaukee, Monta Ellis scored 16 of his 30 points in the final 5 minutes, helping Milwaukee fend off a Cleveland team missing Kyrie Irving.,
Brandon Jennings scored 19 points, and Ersan Ilyasova added 18 for Milwaukee. The Bucks have won four of their past five to close within a game of New York for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks were off Wednesday.
Anthony Parker had a season-high 27 points for the Cavaliers, who have lost nine straight and 12 of 13. Irving reinjured his sprained right shoulder Tuesday night in a blowout loss to San Antonio.
PACERS 109, WIZARDS 96: In Washinton, Danny Granger scored 20 points, and Indiana won its third straight game, shooting a season-high 58 percent in a victory over Washington.
Darren Collison added 17 points and 11 assists for Indiana. The Pacers have won eight of 11 to move into third place in the Eastern Conference.
Jordan Crawford scored 28 points, and Kevin Seraphin had a career-high 19 points and added 10 rebounds for Washington. The Wizards have lost eight of nine.
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points and Dallas used a big fourth-quarter run to beat Memphis.
Shawn Marion scored 10 of his 16 points when the Mavericks went ahead with a 21-4 run over a 7-minute span in the fourth quarter. It was the first of two games in four days between the teams in a virtual tie for fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
O.J. Mayo had 17 points to lead Memphis.
In Salt Lake City, Steve Nash hit two shots in the final 14 seconds and Phoenix won its seventh straight meeting against Utah to jump over the Jazz in the Western Conference playoff race.
The Suns (28-26) are in ninth place, a half-game ahead of the Jazz (28-27) and a game behind Denver, which lost Wednesday at New Orleans, and idle Houston. Phoenix also owns the tiebreaker with the Jazz.
Michael Redd led the Suns with 19 points, and Nash finished with a 13 points and nine assists. Paul Millsap led Utah with 25 points and had a chance to force overtime, but his putback came just after the buzzer.
In Minneapolis, David Lee had 31 points and eight rebounds, and Golden State rallied from a 20-point deficit to top Minnesota.
Charles Jenkins had 19 points and seven assists,and Richard Jefferson scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting to help the Warriors snap a six-game losing streak. They trailed by 20 with less than 2 minutes to play in the first half, but outscored Minnesota 40-19 over the next 8 minutes.
Kevin Love had 29 points and 12 rebounds, and Wayne Ellington scored 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter for Minnesota. The Timberwolves have lost four in a row and five of their last six to fall out of contention in the Western Conference playoff race.
In New Orleans, Eric Gordon scored 15 points in his first action in three months, capping the performance with two free throws in the final seconds to lift New Orleans past Denver.
Trevor Ariza scored 15 points, and Chris Kaman added 14 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans.
Ty Lawson scored 22 points for Denver, which tied it at 92 on Al Harrington’s 3 from the corner with 10 seconds left, only to see Gordon bait Arron Afflalo into a foul on an up-fake near the lane with 2 seconds left. Gordon was returning from a right knee bruise that required arthroscopic surgery.
Afflalo finished with 15 points and a career-high seven assists.
In Philadelphia, Andrea Bargnani scored 24 points, DeMar DeRozan had 18 and Toronto beat Philadelphia for its third straight victory.
Elton Brand and Jrue Holiday had 20 points each for Philadelphia. The 76ers have lost eight of 12 games to fall to seventh in the Eastern Conference.
In Portland, LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and nine rebounds and Portland rallied after surrendering the lead to New Jersey in the fourth quarter.
Nic Batum added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Blazers, who led by 16 points in the third quarter. Kris Humphries had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets.
In Atlanta, Josh Smith scored 24 points, Jeff Teague added 17 and Atlanta beat Charlotte.
Joe Johnson finished with 16 points for Atlanta. Rookie Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 21 points. The NBA-worst Bobcats have lost nine straight to drop to 7-45.
