MIAMI - No blowout this time for the Miami Heat. They can beat the Knicks with a grind-it-out finish, too.

Dwyane Wade scored 15 of his season-high 40 points in the fourth quarter, LeBron James and Chris Bosh each finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and the Heat held off a late comeback to beat New York 106-98 on Tuesday night, Miami's 15th win in its past 16 games overall and its seventh straight over the Knicks.

Wade hit a step-back 3-pointer with less than two minutes left to stop one New York run, and James essentially sealed it by blowing past Danilo Gallinari for a layup and seven-point lead with 40 seconds remaining.

"My teammates did a great job, especially in the fourth, of looking for me," said Wade, who scored 15 of Miami's 21 points in the last 8:30. "Guys did a great job getting me the ball in my sweet spots and I was able to attack."

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 14 points and added 10 rebounds for the Heat, who won by 22 in New York on Dec 17 and led this one by 22 as well - then held off a big challenge down the stretch.

"I told the guys, a 22-point lead against the Knicks is similar to a seven or eight-point game against a normal team," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "They kept on coming ... and that's what they do."

Amare Stoudemire scored 30 points for the Knicks, who lost for the fourth time in their past six games. Wilson Chandler scored 21 for New York, which got 15 from Raymond Felton, 13 from Gallinari and 11 from Toney Douglas.

"These guys are playing as well as anybody," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said of the Heat before the game, "if not the best."

At times on Tuesday, those words rang particularly true.

Stoudemire had a tip-in to make it 97-93 with 2:02 left, and Spoelstra drew a technical for arguing from referee David Guthrie that it should have been offensive interference. Felton hit the free throw and suddenly it was a one-possession game.

Wade wasn't worried.

His 3-pointer made the lead six again, and about a minute later, he went to the floor to collect a key rebound. James went left and past Gallinari with ease on the ensuing possession, and Miami held on.

"If you do panic, you're probably going to lose," Bosh said. "To be honest with you, we've given up leads before. Everybody gives up leads. It's the NBA. It's nothing you can do to change it ... We've been there before. You never panic. I don't care how bad it looks. You just keep playing basketball and stay the course."

Wade had the highest point total for a Heat player this season - he had 39 against Utah on Nov 10 - and the 29th time that the 2006 NBA finals MVP had put up at least 40 in a regular-season game.

And for the Heat, it was the 16th straight time they held an opponent under 100. They outrebounded New York 50-32, and put their 14th win of December in the books, tying a franchise record for any month.

Associated Press

(China Daily 12/30/2010 page23)