LeBron James scored 33 points, Dwyane Wade added 28 and the surging Heat extended their winning streak to six games by outscoring Utah by 14 in the fourth quarter for a 111-98 victory Wednesday night.
Utah couldn’t stop the pick-and-roll. And when Jazz defenders helped inside, Chris Bosh or Zydrunas Ilgauskas knocked down outside shots.
“It was kind of pick your poison,” Utah guard Deron Williams said. “It was just tough to defend.”
Miami outscored Utah 34-20 in the fourth quarter, avenging a 116-114 overtime loss to Utah at home on Nov. 9. The Heat improved to 15-8, while Utah fell to 16-7.
“Right now every win is significant,” said James, who once again got an earful from the crowd. “When you go into a building like this, a hostile environment with a team that’s very good, great in this building, it’s always good to get a win like this.”
Al Jefferson scored 25 points and all five Jazz starters were in double figures by the start of the fourth. But it wasn’t enough as the Heat pulled away with a 12-3 run to start the quarter.
“We were pretty much playing uphill the whole game,” said Williams, who finished with 21 points but had only four in the first half.
Miami led by as many as 12 early, but the Heat found themselves trailing 78-77 entering the fourth after the Jazz mounted yet another rally. Last month, they came back from a 22-point deficit to beat the Heat.
