Heat 125, Rockets 119
LeBron James led the way with 33 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Miami Heat outlasted the visiting Houston Rockets, 125-119, en route to their fifth straight victory on Sunday.
Chris Bosh added 31 points and 12 boards and Dwyane Wade chipped in 30 and 11 for the Heat (51-22), who remained one-half game behind Boston (51-21) for the second spot in the East.
The Rockets were within a point, 104-103, when Wade began to take over, draining a 3-pointer and following with a layup and two straight blocked shots. James’ jumper with 3:34 left put Miami up, 116-106.
Houston began to claw its way back into the game, trimming it to 118-115 after Kyle Lowry’s tip shot with 51 seconds to play, but the Heat called a timeout and Wade drove for a layup to stretch it back out to a two-possession game. Bosh and James combined to hit five free throws over the final 26 seconds to seal it.
Lowry finished with 25 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Rockets (38-35), who had their five-game winning streak snapped and fell 2 1/2 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies (41-33) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.