Heat 108, Magic 101
ORLANDO , Fla. -- Veteran Dwyane Wade had 24 points, including 12 in the final five minutes, to lead the Miami Heat to a 108-101 victory over the Orlando Magic Saturday night.
Forward Chris Bosh, who had 30 points Friday in an overtime victory against New Orleans, also had 24 points Saturday. He also had 10 rebounds. Goran Dragic added 22 points.
The Magic (17-13) were led by center Nikola Vucevic, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds. Point guard Elfrid Payton had 16 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.
Heat reserve Gerald Green had 15 points, making a pair of 3-pointers during the fourth-quarter rally. Wade hit the jumper for a 91-89 lead the Heat never lost.
Tobias Harris had 13 points and six rebounds for the Magic. Evan Fournier had 12 points and seven assists.
The Magic were hurt by poor free-throw shooting (six of 13), while the Heat made 22 of 23 free throws.
The Heat took their first lead, 82-81, since early in the game on a 3-pointer by Gerald Green with 8:32 remaining. Bosh had scored seven points earlier in the fourth quarter. Green hit another 3-pointer for the 87-85 lead.
After trailing almost the entire first half -- and down by 12 at intermission -- the Heat used an 11-0 run early in the third period to pull within 66-64. Bosh scored six points in the run. Victor Oladipo hit a 3-pointer just before the third period ended for the 76-69 Magic lead.
Fournier scored the last five points before intermission, giving the Magic 56-44 lead. He had 12 points and hit a pair of 3-pointers before halftime. Vucevic had 10 points and eight rebounds in the first two periods.
Dragic had 12 point and four rebounds in the first half, but the Heat made only 15 of 39 shots (38.5 percent). The Magic hit 23 of 44 shots (52.3 percent) and made six of 12 from 3-point range to control the game early.
Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who leads the NBA in blocked shots (4.0 bpg), got two fouls in the first five minutes and struggled through the first half. Whiteside, who also was averaging 12.6 points and 11.3 rebounds, had no points, two blocks and one rebound in 13 first-half minutes.
Magic rookie Mario Hezonja provided a spark with a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter.
NOTES: The two rosters were quite a contrast Saturday night. The veteran Heat roster had a combined 29 All-Star appearances, and the youthful Magic had none. ... The upstart Magic have secured another winning month, giving them back-to-back winning months for the first time since February and March of 2012. ... The Magic came into the game with 17 victories. In the previous three seasons, they didn't win their 17th game until Feb. 11, Feb. 21 and March 4, respectively. ... Heat C Hassan Whiteside came into the game with 112 blocked shots, which is more than three entire teams have. Whiteside, in his fourth NBA season, also has three games this season of at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. No other player in the NBA has more than one. ... The Heat seem to thrive playing on Christmas Day. By beating New Orleans Friday, they upped their record to 10-2. G Dwyane Wade is 10-1 on Christmas Day, the best winning percentage of any NBA player who has played in at least 10 Christmas Day games. Wade is leading all Eastern Conference guards in the first All-Star balloting results.