Heat win 21st straight game

LeBron James and Chris Bosh each had 28 points as the Heat claimed victory at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Miami played a significant stretch of the first half without Dwyane Wade, who left the game after falling to the floor left in the first quarter.

He returned to action before halftime and played the remainder of the game with a strained neck, finishing with 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in 33 minutes.

The Heat's 20-game winning streak is the third best in NBA history, behind the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33) and the 2007-08 Houston Rockets (22).

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The Oklahoma City Thunder let a 27-point lead whittle down to single digits before they were able to pull out a 117-104 victory over the Orlando Magic at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The Thunder (49-17) led by four points with six minutes left in the game. The Magic (18-48) had three straight possessions with a chance to cut the lead in half or better, but they came up empty each time.

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The Los Angeles Lakers overcome the loss of Kobe Bryant in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers 99-93 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Former Pacer Metta World Peace had 19 points for the Lakers.

Center Dwight Howard added 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Point guard George Hill had 27 points and Paul George added 20 points for the Pacers.

Bryant only played in the first quarter because of his left ankle sprain, which happened against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.

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John Wall's shooting stroke was on full display as the guard scored a season-high 29 points to lead the Washington Wizards to a 96-87 victory over the New Orleans Hornets.

Not known for his outside shooting, Wall was feeling it against the Hornets, connecting on 12 of 15 from the floor and tying a career-high with three 3-pointers to lift Washington to its second straight victory.

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The Toronto Raptors turned it on in the fourth quarter and pulled away from the Charlotte Bobcats, picking up a 92-78 win at the Air Canada Centre.

Rudy Gay led all-scorers with 28 points while Amir Johnson set a new career-high with 21 rebounds.

Gerald Henderson scored 22 points to lead Charlotte, which lost for the 11th time in 12 games.

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The Atlanta Hawks beat the Phoenix Suns 107-94 at Philips Arena.

Hawks forward Josh Smith, who scored 11 points in the first quarter but only two more points in the second quarter, ended with 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

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The Houston Rockets avoided what would have been their most inexplicable loss of the season, mustering a spirited second-half comeback and dashing past the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves 108-100 at Toyota Center.

Rockets guards James Harden and Jeremy Lin combined for 61 points and 16 assists to help erase a 20-point, third-quarter deficit.

Harden had 37 points and Lin scored 24 while Derrick Williams and J.J. Barea scored 19 points apiece for the Timberwolves.

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The Dallas Mavericks, facing an ugly start to a long and critical homestand, finally heated up at the start of the fourth quarter and rode it to a 96-86 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at the American Airlines Center.

Coming off a heartbreaking one-point loss at San Antonio on Thursday might, the Mavs are still holding out hope they can put together a late push and crash the playoffs.

For such a scenario to gain credence, they had to have this one against Cleveland. The Cavs are the Eastern Conference's 11th-place team and entered the game 20 games under .500 and without its All-Star point guard, Kyrie Irving.