The Heat beat New Jersey for the 10th consecutive time, and Dwyane Wade was sidelined to rest his ankle.
"“I enjoyed it,” said Wade, “I am a fan of the game, so I enjoyed it. He doesn’t get any credit for his scoring ability. I enjoy watching him take over a game like that. It’s fun. Obviously being his teammate, it’s even funner.”"
No Deron Williams (calf), but the Nets led the entire game heading into the final minute of play.
"“We want to win every last game to close it out,” James said. “We don’t want to lose again the rest of the season. Ultimately we can to continue to get better.”"
LeBron James took over the final 5 minutes by scoring the last 17 points for the Heat. James heard the MVP chants in New Jersey, en route to closing a game for a comeback road win. He dropped 37 on the night, to go with his usual stat-line: 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and a block.
"“We were able to grind away and not let it go mentally, and that guy, No. 6, he was pretty good going down the stretch,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He was sensational. Obviously, he made every big play offensively. I believe it was 17 straight to close the game. That’s what an MVP does and we needed it at both ends. But also on a night like this, you can come up with a lot of excuses to not bring that type of performance, but that’s not the type of DNA he has inside of him. The Nets played well but we found a way at the end.”"
New Jersey led by as many as 13 in the 3rd quarter, and were up by 7 with just over 2-minutes remaining. Miami grabbed their first lead of the game with 51 seconds left, when James scored at the basket and followed that with a jumper and the crowd chanting “Let’s go Heat!”
"“Good as I thought, good as a video game. He’s a good player, you know,” said Gerald Green of the Nets (who contributed 15 points and 2 steals), “I thought we had a great chance to beat them anyway even though he played great tonight, but that’s just the nature of this game when you face guys like that every night.”"
Chris Bosh and Kris Humphries made their presence felt in big ways. Bosh notched a 22-point, 15 rebound double-double. Humphries shot 12-16 for 29 points while adding 8 boards in a losing effort.
Nets rookie guard Marshon Brooks flourished n the absence of Williams, posting 24 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.
"“They had a nine-point lead,” Bosh said. “We didn’t want to let this one go, especially after yesterday, so we just playing, kept chipping away, and you know eventually everything worked out.”"
Miami gets a day off tomorrow and will host Toronto and Chicago on back-to-back nights.