Miami Heat

Alonzo Mourning, the fierce Miami Heat center, did not pretend to know all the details of why the 76ers suspended Allen Iverson for last night's game. But Mourning, who scored 21 points in the Heat's 92-77 victory last night, saw a larger, more critical issue. "A lot has to do with maturity and experience," he said. "He was taught better than that. We all know, based on experience, with this type of lifestyle, you're going to make mistakes. "The culmination is, you've got to sit back and say, 'What am I doing, not just to myself but my teammates?

THE BIGGEST postseason comeback in Miami Heat franchise history wasn't enough in regulation. The Heat needed more - and got it, digging deep to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. LeBron James scored 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored 23 and the Heat rallied from 15 down to beat the Boston Celtics, 115-111, in overtime on Wednesday night. Mario Chalmers scored 22 for the Heat, who won despite an unbelievable night by Rajon Rondo. The Celtics guard played all 53 minutes and scored 44 points, dished out 10 assists and grabbed eight rebounds.

What was going on here? The 76ers, who five days ago at the Spectrum scored only 57 points in losing to the Miami Heat, reached that total late in the second quarter yesterday at the Miami Arena. Then the Sixers kept going and going, building an 11-point lead behind 13 first-half points from Jerry Stackhouse and 15 from Clarence Weatherspoon. Meanwhile, an active defense was harassing the Heat into 15 turnovers in the first 24 minutes. Amazing as it seemed, the Sixers, on the second game of a five-game road trip, were beating the Heat straight up. Beating the same Heat who had beaten Chicago on Friday.

Well, it was a nice streak while it lasted. Having won two games in a row for the first time all season, and faced with the opportunity for a third straight victory, the 76ers held up for about only one half last night before bowing to the Miami Heat, 113-90. The Sixers simply appeared to have too little talent in this one. They had no point guard to answer 6-foot-8 Steve Smith, who played like the star he was billed to be. He finished with 29 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Looking for a reason not to pick the Miami Heat to win another NBA title? Don't check the odds, where the Heat are such an overwhelming favorite that it might as well be Tiger Woods against a weekend hacker. Definitely don't bother with the Heat's results, which show exactly three losses since the start of February. And certainly don't look on the court, where LeBron James sent season-long reminders that he's better than ever and already the best in the world. The only people who might really believe in caution are the Heat themselves.

MIAMI - I always knew that the hatred and vitriol directed at LeBron James following his and the Miami Heat's loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals would not take long to dissipate. To begin with, unless you are fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers - the team James infamously and awkwardly left via free agency in the summer of 2010 - why should you have even cared that he chose to cut and run to South Beach? But after watching James play dazed and confused against the Mavs two years ago, I knew that the bitter learning experience and the ensuing, often over-the-top attacks on James would be the nudge to push him to play the game at a far higher level, and eventually into a comparison with Michael Jordan.

Who: Miami Heat (1-0 or 0-1) at Sixers (0-0) When: 7 o'clock Where: Wells Fargo Center TV/Radio: Comcast SportsNet/WIP (610-AM)

MIAMI - Halfway to a title, and LeBron James shows no sign of letting this one get away. James had 29 points and 14 rebounds, and the Miami Heat took a two-games-to-one lead in the NBA Finals with a 91-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night. Dwyane Wade had 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Heat, who were in this same position through three games last year, then didn't win again against the Dallas Mavericks. James' poor performance was part of the problem then, but he seems on top of his game this time.

Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points on 9-for-23 shooting against the rugged Indiana defense on Sunday, and the New York Knicks clinched the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 90-80 victory over the visiting Pacers. The Knicks will host seventh-seeded Boston next weekend. New York is guaranteed the home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs after finishing a distant second to Miami in the conference. Anthony didn't play in the fourth quarter, ending his streak of 30-point games at seven, after he bruised his left shoulder when he was fouled by Sam Young in the third.

The seventh-seeded 76ers hope they fare better against the Miami Heat in the playoffs than they did in the regular season. The Sixers' 95-85 loss to Orlando on Monday gave the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference to the New York Knicks, who will take on the third-seeded Boston Celtics. Miami earned the second seed in the East after beating Atlanta and seeing slumping Boston lose in overtime to Washington. The playoff series will begin Saturday or Sunday in Miami. During the regular season, the Sixers were 0-3 against the Heat, losing by 97-87 at home on Oct. 27 and suffering two defeats in Miami, by 99-90 on Nov. 26 and by 111-99 on March 25. - Marc Narducci  

KNOWING HIS team needed him at his best, Dwyane Wade retreated to the Miami Heat locker room after the third quarter for some quick treatment on his aching right knee. When he came back, he was good as new. And now he can rest until the Eastern Conference finals. LeBron James scored 23 points, Wade added 18 and had a brilliant 45-second sequence that proved crucial, and the Heat clawed back from an 11-point second-half deficit to beat the Chicago Bulls, 94-91, last night and close out their second-round series in five games.

SO MUCH FOR that notion of the Miami Heat being in trouble. Sure, they've lost homecourt advantage in these Eastern Conference semifinals. But an absolute domination of the visiting Chicago Bulls last night made the reigning NBA champions look like the clear-cut team to beat in this title race once again. "We're still in the hole," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team will need to win at least one game in Chicago if it's going to prevail in this series. But given how one-sided last night's game was, that wouldn't seem like too tall a challenge.

Nate Robinson scored 27 points, Jimmy Butler added 21 points and 14 rebounds while playing every second for the third consecutive game, and the Chicago Bulls stunned the host Miami Heat, 93-86, on Monday night to take Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Trailing by 86-83 with two minutes to go, the Bulls scored the final 10 points of the game to beat the Heat. Joakim Noah added 13 points and Taj Gibson had 12 for Chicago, which snapped a 27-game Miami winning streak during the regular season and handed the Heat their first loss in their last 13 games in this one. Marco Bellinelli scored 10 points for the Bulls after being fined $15,000 by the NBA for making an obscene gesture in the fourth quarter of Saturday night's win at Brooklyn.

Looking for a reason not to pick the Miami Heat to win another NBA title? Don't check the odds, where the Heat are such an overwhelming favorite that it might as well be Tiger Woods against a weekend hacker. Definitely don't bother with the Heat's results, which show exactly three losses since the start of February. And certainly don't look on the court, where LeBron James sent season-long reminders that he's better than ever and already the best in the world. The only people who might really believe in caution are the Heat themselves.

Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points on 9-for-23 shooting against the rugged Indiana defense on Sunday, and the New York Knicks clinched the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 90-80 victory over the visiting Pacers. The Knicks will host seventh-seeded Boston next weekend. New York is guaranteed the home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs after finishing a distant second to Miami in the conference. Anthony didn't play in the fourth quarter, ending his streak of 30-point games at seven, after he bruised his left shoulder when he was fouled by Sam Young in the third.

MIAMI - Had things gone as planned for the Miami Heat, their Saturday game against the 76ers would have been a happening. As it was, there still was a streak to be kept intact, and the Heat did just enough to maintain it, defeating the Sixers (31-45) for the 15th straight time in the regular season. The Heat used a 24-7 run to close the game, turning what had been a two-point Miami lead into a 106-87 victory Saturday night at American Airlines Arena. The loss combined with Milwaukee's win over Toronto eliminated the Sixers from the playoffs.

Carmelo Anthony tied his career high with 50 points and the visiting New York Knicks won their ninth straight game, topping the injury-depleted Miami Heat, 102-90, on Wednesday night. Anthony finished 18 of 26 from the field, reaching 50 on a jumper with 16.9 seconds remaining. J.R. Smith scored 14 and Raymond Felton added 10 for New York. Chris Bosh scored 23 points for Miami, which played without LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Mario Chalmers, all held out with injuries that are not believed to be serious.

Their winning streak finally over, the Miami Heat did on Thursday what they had planned to do all along. They took the day off. While the circus atmosphere around the team may slow down now - until the playoffs start, anyway - the way the reigning NBA champions go about their business over the final 11 games of the regular season probably will not. Miami's epic, historic, sometimes-mindboggling 27-game winning streak ended with a 101-97 loss...

SALT LAKE CITY - If the Miami Heat keep streaking - they have won 27 straight - they could tie the NBA record by beating the 76ers on April 6. The record of 33 straight wins was set by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers. Sixers coach Doug Collins believes that the Heat are good enough to break the record. "Sure they can," Collins said Monday. "They have been pulling rabbits out of their hat lately, but they are in a rhythm. "Absolutely, they could do it. They have great players, a great coach, they defend every night and they have championship players like Ray Allen and Shane Battier coming off their bench.

LEBRON JAMES scored 25 points as the visiting Miami Heat overcame a 27-point deficit in the third quarter and won their 24th straight game, 98-95 over the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night to extend the second-longest winning streak in NBA history. The Heat are within nine games of matching the record of 33 consecutive wins held by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers. James and his teammates have insisted the record isn't one of their goals, and for more than 30 minutes the defending champions seemed disinterested and on the verge of losing for the first time since Feb. 1. Miami trailed 67-40 with 7:44 left in the third quarter.