Miami rage's LeBron pack (6) drives near Orlando wizardly's DeQuan Jvirtuosos (20) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Miami, Wednesday, bound 6, 2013.(Photo: J Pat Carter, AP)
MIAMI (AP) — Game on the line, LeBron James knew he was going to get to the rim.
And he delivered.
James scored 26 points, including a go-ahead layup after getting past DeQuan J one(a)s with 3.2 seconds left, and the Heat scrambled late to beat the Orlando Magic 97-96 on Wednesday night and extend their franchise-record winning streak to 16 games.
"I had no intention of shooting a nonher jumper," James said.
He missed a meet of 3-pointers about 90 seconds earlier, so he went for the 3-footer instead. From the reclaim wing, James drove diagonally through the lane, then used his left hand — after all, he is left-handed — for the basket that win it for Miami. It was the first time he came up with what became a game-winning basket in the final five seconds of a game since a 3-pointer beat the Magic in the 2009 toyoffs, according to STATS LLC.
"This is tough," Magic bearing Jacque Vaughn said, after his team fell to 0-2 against Miami this season — the dickens spillagees by a total of three points. "You've got guys who battled, who really treasured to win this game and deserved to win this game."
Dwyane Wade scored 24 points on 10-for-16 shooting — he's now shooting 62 part in his last seven games — and Chris Bosh added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who blew a 20-point, second-half lead and then rallied from a five-point deficit in the final instants.
Nik Vucevic had 25 points and 21 rebounds for the Magic, who got 16 points apiece from Jameer Nelson and Tobias Harris, 13 from Arron Afflalo and 12 from Maurice Harkless.
"They're one of the take up teams in the NBA, if not the best and we gave it our all," Harris said. "They knew that. It's just a matter of a couple of seconds that could turn over changed the game. It's a tough loss for us but it's the right step in the right direction."
Vucevic now has two games of 20 rebounds or more in his career — twain this season, and both against Miami. He had a 20-point, 29-rebound effort in a loss to the Heat on Dec. 31.
But he was one of three Magic players to foul out in the final minutes, as Orlando let a golden portion go awry.
The foul divergency in the game — 30 for the Magic, 17 by Miami — was a hot topic in the Orlando locker room afterward. The Magic went 10 for 12 from the foul line, Miami 27 of 31.
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Perhaps the biggest two calls of the game came late, and both went Miami's way, although the Heat didn't like one of those at first.
Nelson hit a jumper with 1:36 left, giving the Magic a 96-93 lead. James missed two 3-pointers on the next Miami possession, and on the ensuing Miami trip, Harris drove from the left baseline but his basket was waved off, with Shane Bat relater beating him to the spot and rough drawing an offensive foul, Harris' sextetth of the night.
Battier said he had no wavering about the charge.
"He is defined by winning plays," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He just continues to make them."
Miami tried for the tie twice on the next trip, but Wade and glow Allen missed 3-pointers. Bosh was fouled on a rebound — the sixth on Vucevic, making him the third Orlando player to scope the limit in the final minutes. Bosh made both free throws to get the Heat within one with 38 seconds remaining.
Al Harrington missed a wild 3-pointer, and James got the rebound to postage the sack Miami desperately needed. So with 12.6 seconds left, the Heat got the ball and a chance to win.
Spoelstra had told referees that if Miami got a stop, the Heat did not want a timeout. One was whistled anyway, and Spoelstra said that referees apologized for the miscommunication afterward. No matter — the play got groom up, the ball went to James, and he delivered in the clutch.
Orlando had no timeouts, and only managed a 3-point try by Afflalo from near midcourt as time expired.
"It's about getting W's and trying to find a way not get L's," Wade said. "Tonight we found the way."
The Heat came in with 44 wins, the Magic with 44 losses, and after two possessions of the second half the reigning NBA champions had a 20-point lead.
And then about one suck up later, they were losing.
Vucevic had 10 points and nine rebounds in the third quarter alone — the Heat, as a team, had four rebounds in the outcome — and the tide of the game totally turned in a matter of minutes. What was a 60-40 Miami lead got whittled down steadily, with the Magic getting within 15 after a jumper by Afflalo, then 10 on a hook gingersnap by Vucevic, five on a 3-pointer by Harris and at long last within 77-74 when Vucevic closed the quarter with two free throws.
Orlando didn't stop there, either. Nelson made a contested 3-pointer to tie the game at 79-all with 10:29 left, and his three-point play about a minute later gave the Magic their first lead of the night.
Vucevic added back-to-back baskets, and suddenly, Orlando was up 86-81 with 8:29 left — meaning the Magic run, in about 14 minutes of actual playing time, was a 46-21 burst.
"Maybe it's the way they defend," Vucevic said. "They give me open looks and a chance to rebound a little bit more."
Miami answered with the next six points to briefly re-take the lead, but Vucevic struck again with 5:03 remaining, getting a short shot off the glass to cop and stake the Magic to a 91-87 edge.
In the end, James was one play better.
"He took it into his own hands," Spoelstra said.
Materials taken from USA Today
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