AP, Miami, March 26: One huge run got the Miami Heat back into the game.
A second one put it away.
And a historic statline from Dwyane Wade certainly didn't hurt the cause, either.
Wade finished with 39 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and five blocks — an effort matched only by Shaquille O'Neal in the last 25 seasons, according to STATS LLC — and the Heat pulled away down the stretch to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 111-99 on Friday night.
LeBron James finished with 32 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Bosh had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who used a 23-2 run in the second quarter to erase what was a 16-point deficit, then sealed it with a 24-5 burst that wiped away an eight-point Philadelphia lead in the fourth.
'Dwyane was simply sensational,' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Saved his best for last, too.
Wade (18) outscored the 76ers (17) in the fourth quarter. He had three blocks in the fourth, one more than Philadelphia managed in the entire game. And when things looked particularly bleak for Miami, Wade willed the Heat back into it, scoring twice to tie the game shortly after the 76ers were up 88-80 and seeming in control.
James set up James Jones for a 3-pointer with 6:37 left that put Miami up for good, Wade added a three-point play a minute later, then the 2006 NBA finals MVP knocked the ball away from Elton Brand and dunked for a 100-92 Heat lead.
James got loose for another steal and dunk to make the margin 11 shortly afterward, and in a flash, it was over.
And that wasn't even the biggest reason for the Heat to celebrate: Boston lost at home to Charlotte, pulling Miami (50-22) within a half-game of the Celtics for the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics (50-21) hold the tiebreaker over Miami, however.
Lou Williams scored 24 points for Philadelphia, which got 15 more from fellow reserve Thaddeus Young. Jodie Meeks added 14 for Philadelphia, which was outscored 34-17 in the fourth and simply had no answers for Wade, James and Bosh, who combined for all but 20 of Miami's points.
'These three guys are special players,' Spoelstra said, 'and they can do special things.'
Philadelphia coach Doug Collins could only agree.
'They just had another gear,' Collins said. 'Those three guys got 91 points. That's tough to beat.'
Spencer Hawes and Jrue Holiday each scored 13 for Philadelphia.
O'Neal's stat line of 40 points, 17 rebounds, eight assists and five blocks came nearly a decade to the day earlier, March 23, 2001 for the Los Angeles Lakers against Washington.
O'Neal won a title that season. Five years later, he and Wade brought another to Miami. Now the Heat are thinking they can hoist the trophy in June again, and nights like this suggest that might very well be possible.
Miami led 51-50 at the half, a score that could provide a misleading impression that the opening 24 minutes were nip-and-tuck.
Not hardly.
Philadelphia controlled the first quarter, and Williams' 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left in that period started what became an 18-6 run that gave the 76ers a 42-26 cushion with 6:19 left in the half. The Heat were getting run out of their building, and by their hand — the 76ers forced 12 turnovers for 16 points in the game's first 18 minutes, and not coincidentally, that separated the teams over that span.
So when the turnovers stopped, the game changed, and quickly.
The Heat made their next eight shots, seven of them either layups or dunks, on the way to a 23-2 run over the next 5 ½ minutes to take a 49-44 lead. Wade had 13 points during the run, while Bosh and James combined for the other 10, and that essentially was the story of the first half for Miami: Wade had 19, Bosh and James each had 14, Erick Dampier scored four, and seven other players combined for zero.
Meanwhile, the 76ers were getting production from all sides. Williams and Young had 23 points by halftime off the bench, while Miami's six reserves in uniform managed none in a combined 34 minutes.
And in the third, Philadelphia showed it had more than recovered from the Miami blitz to close the half.
James shot 5 of 6 and scored 16 points in the third, but the 76ers forced the rest of the Heat into a 4-for-17, 10-point showing in the period. Hawes scored nine in the quarter, Williams and Meeks each had eight, and the 76ers took an 82-77 lead into the fourth.
So Philadelphia survived the first Miami run.
The 24-5 Heat spurt in the fourth, though, was too much.
