NBA: James scores 49 to tow Heat past Nets and into 3-1 series lead

NEW YORK - LeBron James tied a playoff career-high with 49 points to pace the Miami Heat to a 102-96 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in game four of the Eastern Conference semifinals Monday night (Tuesday, PHL time) at Barclays Center.

The Heat take a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, which moves back to Miami for game five Wednesday night (Thursday, PHL time).

Guard Dwayne Wade added 15 point and forward Chris Bosh had 12 for the Heat, who bounced back from a 104-90 loss in game three.

Guard Joe Johnson had a team-high 18 points, forward Paul Pierce had 16 points, guards Shaun Livingston and Deron Williams had 13 points apiece and forward Alan Anderson added 10 points for the Nets, who scored 23 second-chance points.

When he wasn't striking up a conversation with Jay Z and Beyonce, who sat courtside, James was scoring at will in a variety of ways. Despite sitting out nearly four minutes to start the second quarter, James scored 25 first-half points. He was 16-of-24 from the field and 14-for-19 from the free throw line for the game.

The Nets scored the first six points of the fourth quarter and took their first lead since the second quarter on a Pierce dunk.

Miami regained its lead on a Bosh three-pointer with 5:52 remaining, but Pierce responded with an old-fashioned three-pointer, drawing the foul on Wade while dropping a baseline floater, to put the Nets back in front, 90-89.



James followed with a deep three-pointer to give the Heat a 92-90 lead with 4:08 left, but Johnson knocked down a pair of free throws after being fouled by James and tied the score at 92 with 3:55 to play.

With the score tied at 94, Bosh buried a corner three-pointer with 57.3 seconds left.

Johnson missed a floater on the other end, and guard Mario Chalmers grabbed the rebound. James missed his next attempt, but Wade picked up the rebound with 15.6 seconds left.

Guard Ray Allen knocked down a pair of free throws with 10.9 seconds left to give Miami a 99-94 lead.

Forward Mirza Teletovic scored on a put-back off a Pierce missed three-pointer to pull Brooklyn within 99-96, but Allen buried two more free throws to put the Heat in front 101-96 with 5.4 seconds left.

James went to the line with a chance to set a career high, but went 1-of-2 from the line to put the finishing touches on the road win.

As was the case Saturday night (Sunday, PHL time), Miami raced out to a first-quarter lead, but Brooklyn went on 12-2 run capped by a three-point play by forward Andrei Kirilenko to take its first lead at 31-29 lead with 9:13 left in the second quarter.

Miami regained the lead on three consecutive buckets by James, including a thunderous dunk, and took a 56-49 advantage into the locker room at the half. The Heat scored 11 points off the Nets' seven first-half turnovers and scored 30 points in the paint. - Reuters


The scores:

HEAT 102 - James 49, Wade 15, Bosh 12, Allen 11, Chalmers 8, Andersen 5, Battier 2, Lewis 0, Jones 0, Cole 0

NETS 96 - Johnson 18, Pierce 16, Williams 13, Livingston 13, Anderson 10, Garnett 8, Blatche 8, Kirilenko 6, Teletovic 4

Miami        27-29-23-23
Brooklyn    22-27-27-20