James, Heat pull away to 3-0 lead over Knicks

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade, above, reaches for the ball with New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony trying to retain possession during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series at Madison Square Garden in New York, Thursday, May 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEW YORK — LeBron James scored 32 points as Miami took a 3-0 series lead with an 87-70 victory Thursday night, sending New York to an NBA postseason-record 13th straight loss.

James had 17 points in the final period for the Heat, who held the short-handed Knicks to eight field goals in the second half and will go for the sweep Sunday.

Dwyane Wade added 20 points for the Heat and Mario Chalmers had 19, hitting consecutive 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Carmelo Anthony scored 22 points on 7-of-23 shooting for the Knicks, who are playing without Amare Stoudemire, Jeremy Lin and Iman Shumpert.

The Knicks broke the record set by Memphis from 2004-06. They haven’t won a playoff game since April 29, 2001, Game 3 of a best-of-five series against Toronto.