Miami Heat's star Dwyane Wade soars for the lefty lay up over Philadelphia 76ers' center Tony Battie. AP Photo/ Michael Perez
PHILADELPHIA—Miami’s Dwyane Wade scored 26 points to lead the Heat to a 99-79 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, putting the hosts back in their place with a convincing victory in the clash between two NBA divisional leaders.
Coming off wins against Orlando and Chicago, the Sixers were aiming to complete a hat trick of home wins over the league’s big guns, but could not go the distance against Wade, LeBron James—19 points and 12 rebounds—and company.
Wade made a pair of ferocious dunks during the game-changing 15-0 run in the fourth quarter that turned a tight game into a comfortable win that pushed the Sixers’ first sellout crowd of the season toward the exits.
Thaddeus Young scored 16 points for the Sixers, whose four-game winning streak was ended.
Pacers 98, Mavericks 87
In Dallas, Paul George hit seven 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 30 points as Indiana won in Dallas for the first time in eight years.
The Pacers took the lead for good with seven consecutive points in the first 2 minutes of the second half. George made a go-ahead running layup then had a steal that he turned into a dunk and a free throw.
Indiana won its 10th road game this season, matching Miami for the most in the NBA. The Pacers had lost 11 of their previous 12 road games against the Mavericks.
Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 30 points for Dallas on 12-of-17 shooting.