Miami's late burst guns down Pistons
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The Miami Heat produced a stirring second half fightback, which included an 18-0 run, to surge to a 100-94 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
Trailing 70-81 in the closing seconds of the third quarter, the Heat began their devastating burst with Mike Miller's three-pointer and capped it with a Chris Bosh free throw six minutes later to move seven points clear with as many minutes remaining.
Dwyane Wade led Miami with 24 points, Bosh had 23 and LeBron James 19, as the Heat defense held Detroit to just 13 fourth-quarter points.
James added eight rebounds, seven assists and gave his team a 94-85 advantage on a dunk with less than four minutes remaining in the game to help the visitors finish off the win.
"We knew we had to continue to keep grinding and keep grinding and eventually, we will break them," Wade told reporters. "You've got to give them credit, they played well early."
Miami was playing its first game without starting point guard Mario Chalmers, who is out for up to two weeks with a right knee sprain. The win moved the Heat (49-22) to within a game and a half of the Boston Celtics for second in the Eastern Conference. Chicago has a one game lead over Boston.
The Celtics and Heat will meet for a final time on April 10 in a critical match that will help determine the playoff seedings.
Richard Hamilton scored a game-high 27 points for the Pistons (25-46) who lost a second straight game and are well back of the playoff race.
Greg Monroe added 14 points and 12 rebounds for Detroit.
In Denver, Wilson Chandler hit a go-ahead jump shot with 29.3 seconds remaining to lift the Nuggets to a 115-112 win over the NBA-leading San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs took a 93-90 lead into the fourth quarter and stretched it to 98-91. That's when the Nuggets countered with an 11-0 flurry that put them in front 102-98 for their first lead since the game's opening moments. Al Harrington had 3-pointers to start and finish the flurry.
In other NBA action, it was: Grizzlies 90, Celtics 87; Thunder 106, Jazz 94; Magic 111, Knicks 99; 76ers 105, Hawks 100; Rockets 131, Warriors 112; Pacers 111, Bobcats 88; Suns 114, Raptors 106; Kings 97, Bucks 90; Clippers 127, Wizards 119, OT; and Nets 98, Cavaliers 94, OT.
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