Dragic helps Heat burn Knicks
NEW YORK -- Goran Dragic totaled 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to lead the Miami Heat to a 105-88 victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.
Reserve James Johnson added 18 for the Heat, who are 26-8 in their past 34 games since losing 30 of their first 41 games. The Heat (37-38) matched the 2013-14 Knicks for the most wins when being at least 19 games under .500 at any point.
Josh Richardson contributed 17 as eighth-place Miami moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the ninth-place Chicago Bulls in the race for the last Eastern Conference playoff spot. Tyler Johnson chipped in 12, and Hassan Whiteside collected 11 and nine rebounds.
New York (28-47) was officially eliminated from postseason contention for the fourth straight season since winning 54 games in 2012-13. The Knicks will miss the playoffs for the 13th time in 17 seasons since trading Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing in September 2000.
Kristaps Porzingis led the Knicks with 20 points and eight rebounds. Carmelo Anthony was limited to nine points, marking the third time this season he was held under 10 points.
Miami closed the first half with a 12-4 spurt over the final 5:19 to get a 49-41 lead. The Heat took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by James Johnson with 3:38 left and ended the half with a 3-point shot by Richardson with 3.6 seconds left.
By the end of the third, Miami held a 77-68 lead despite Whiteside sitting for the final 8 1/2 minutes with four fouls. Miami put it away in the opening three minutes of the fourth when it opened the quarter with a thunderous one-handed dunk by James Johnson and built an 86-70 lead on a put-back by Okaro White with nine minutes remaining.
NOTES: G Derrick Rose (sore left knee) sat out after he was limping late in the second half of Monday's win over the Detroit Pistons. Coach Jeff Hornacek said if the Knicks were in contention for the playoffs, Rose would have played. ... The NBA released the report on the final two minutes of Miami's 97-96 win in Detroit on Tuesday, decided on C Hassan Whiteside's tip-in before the buzzer. The report stated Whiteside and G Rodney McGruder committed fouls on the sequence before the final shot. ... New York C Joakim Noah was cleared to be on the active roster and began serving his 20-game suspension for testing positive for a banned supplement. Noah can practice and travel with the team, but must vacate the arena two hours before the opening tip. ... Miami G Dion Waiters (sprained left ankle) missed his sixth straight game. ... New York F Lance Thomas (sore right hip) missed his fourth straight game.