Heat Storm Back – NBA Roundup For March 21st

UNDATED (AP) — The Miami Heat seem to be able to switch on their game anytime they want.

Two days after winning their 23rd straight game by overcoming a 17-point deficit at Boston, the streaking Heat rallied from 27 down in the third quarter to shock Cleveland 98-95. The win tied for the biggest comeback in the NBA this season.

LeBron James paced the Heat's victory against his former team with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Fourteen of his points came in the fourth quarter when the Heat outscored Cleveland 30-18.

Miami is now 9 games away from equaling the NBA record of 33 straight wins set by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.

Around the rest of the NBA;

— Marc Gasol (guh-SAWL') tipped in Zach Randolph's miss with less than a second left in overtime to give Memphis a 90-89 victory over Oklahoma City. Jerryd Bayless connected from the top of the key for Memphis with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

— Western Conference leading San Antonio got 25 points and 13 rebounds from Tim Duncan in a 104-93 win over Golden State. The Spurs improved to 52-16. Stephen (steh-FAHN') Curry scored 24 for the Warriors who remain in sixth place in the conference.

— James Harden had 29 points Houston improved its positioning in the Western Conference playoff race with a 100-93 win over Utah. Jeremy Lin added 24 for the Rockets, who currently hold the No. 7 spot in the West. They lead the idle Los Angeles Lakers by 1½ games and are three ahead of the sliding Jazz.

—Chris Paul scored 19 points and Caron (kuh-RAHN') Butler added 14 as the Clippers blew past Philadelphia 101-72. The Clippers improved to 27-8 at home after losing four of its previous seven.

— Brook Lopez poured in 38 points and Deron Williams added 31 as Brooklyn blew past the Mavericks 113-96. Reggie Evans cleared off 22 rebounds for the Nets.

— Anthony Davis outreached Kevin Garnett and Jeff Green for a last-second tip-in, and New Orleans snapped a four-game skid with an 87-86 victory over Boston.

— Carmelo Anthony returned to the Knicks line-up to score 21 points in a 106-94 win over Orlando. The Knicks leading scorer had been sidelined for three games with a knee injury.

— Jeff Teague scored 27 and Al Horford added 26 to lead Atlanta to a 98-90 win over Milwaukee. Brandon Jennings paced the Bucks with 21 but missed a key free throw late that could have made it a one possession game.

— John Wall scored 19 points to pace Washington to an 88-79 win over the Suns. It was the Wizards first win at Phoenix in more than six years.

— Charlotte has won consecutive games for the first time since mid-November after beating Toronto 107-101. Byron Mullens scored 12 of his game high 25 points in the fourth quarter.