THE Miami Heat overcame a 39-point effort from Kobe Bryant to capture a thrilling 114-111 overtime victory at home against the Los Angeles Lakers
Jermaine O’Neal’s basket gave Miami a 111-109 lead with 54 seconds remaining in overtime and the centre then drew a vital offensive foul on a driving Bryant as the Heat (31-31) closed out the game with three free throws.
Bryant, whose last-gasp three-pointer beat Miami on December 4, made a game-tying jumper with three seconds left in regulation and scored 12 straight points for the NBA champions late in the game but was unable to prevent a first loss in four games.
Miami All-Star Dwyane Wade scored 27 points and 14 assists to lead the home team to a morale-boosting victory over the Western Conference-leading Lakers (46-16).
Wade may have scored fewer points than Bryant in the match-up between two of the league’s marquee players but his lower tally was mainly due to his late-game tactic of passing on several shots and providing assists for team mates.
“That shows my team mates I’m about winning,” Wade said. “I’m not about, ‘I need to hit this shot because Kobe hit one’. It’s about making sure we all are confident and we all are good.”
In a game that featured 31 lead changes, the most in the NBA this season, Miami had a nine-point advantage in the fourth but the Lakers chipped away and led by one with 42 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws from Bryant.
Quentin Richardson answered with a three-pointer as the Heat went ahead 99-97 but the Lakers had plenty of time to give the ball back to Bryant, who entered the night shooting just 34 per cent in his last three games.
Richardson finished with 25 points and Carlos Arroyo had 17 for Miami, who are clinging on to the eighth position in the Eastern Conference.
Los Angeles played the first of a three-game East road trip that concludes in Orlando tomorrow.
“It’s one of the tougher ones of the year,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of the trip.
“This is the key game for us, just to get this off right because it’s (the first game of) a back-to-back and we don’t want to come out of this game not playing well.” (Reuters)