Bosh’s 20, Wade’s bounce-back lead Heat over Mavs
Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh reacts to a call during the second half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, in Dallas. AP
DALLAS, Texas—Chris Bosh scored 20 points, Dwyane Wade bounced back with 18 after matching the worst shooting half of his career and the Miami Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks 93-90 Wednesday night.
Luol Deng finished with 15 points, including his only 3-pointer for a 92-87 lead with 1:04 remaining as the Heat improved to 9-1 against the Mavericks with their fourth sweep in five seasons since losing to Dallas in the 2011 NBA Finals.
Wade scored 16 points in the second half after going 1 of 11 before halftime, his first points coming with just 48 seconds left in the second quarter.
Dirk Nowitzki also had a rough first half, but bounced back with 20 of his 28 points after halftime to lead Dallas, which played without Deron Williams after he injured his right hip in a collision two nights earlier in Atlanta.
Wade gave Dallas a chance to tie in the closing seconds when he missed the second of two free throws with 15 seconds left, but Raymond Felton missed a long 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
Hassan Whiteside had 10 points, nine rebounds and five blocks in seven minutes after missing six games with a left hip injury as the Heat won a night after a season-best four-game winning streak ended in Houston.
Nowitzki and Wade combined for 21 points in the third quarter after the offensive stars from Miami’s NBA Finals victory a decade earlier were just 3 of 18 from the field in the first half.
But the pair of veterans made seven of their first nine attempts in the third quarter, and Nowitzki scored all 11 of his points in the first 4:15 of the quarter.
Wade scored six straight points and eight overall when the Heat took the lead for good on a 12-0 run that put them up 67-59. He finished 6 of 19 from the field and had eight rebounds and four assists.
Whiteside came in with 8 minutes left in the second quarter and went into halftime with eight points, three rebounds and two blocks, both easy rejections on driving attempts by the smaller J.J. Barea. His first basket was an authoritative dunk that gave Miami its first lead at 33-32.
The Dallas offense struggled to get open shots in the first half without Williams and backup guard Devin Harris, who missed his sixth straight game with a left big toe sprain. The Mavericks shot 38 percent before halftime, and the Heat had five blocks.
Chandler Parsons scored 12 points in the first quarter but was held without a point the rest of the way, getting just five shots.
Dallas center Zaza Pachulia had a career-best 22nd double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds. The 13-year veteran had 21 double-doubles with Atlanta in 2005-06.
