LeBron sets mark, Heat top Blazers 117-104

MIAMI (AP) -- LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score 30 points and shoot at least 60 percent in six straight games, Chris Bosh scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and the Miami Heat held off the Portland Trail Blazers117-104 on Tuesday night.

James scored 30 points on 11 for 15 shooting and Dwyane Wade added 24 points for Miami, which wasted a pair of 14-point leads - then put the game away with a 14-0 run in the final minutes. Ray Allen added 14 for Miami.

Damian Lillard had a game-high 33 points for Portland, which got 29 from LaMarcus Aldridge and 20 from Wesley Matthews.

It was the 1,000th regular-season win in Heat history. But on this night, the only history anyone will remember was what James accomplished.

''I'm at a loss for words,'' James said in a televised postgame interview. ''Like I say over and over, I know the history of the game. I know how many unbelievable players who came through the ranks, who paved the way for me and my teammates. And for me to be in the record books by myself with such a stat - any stat - it's big-time.''

James has made 70 of his past 96 shots, over the past six-plus games. According to the Heat, only Adrian Dantley and Moses Malone had done the 30-point, 60-percent streak in five straight outings before James joined the club.

Now he stands alone. And on a night where the teams took turns putting together big runs, it was the Heat who had the last rally - and ultimately, the last laugh.

With the game tied at 99-all, James drove baseline on former Cleveland teammate Sasha Pavlovic for a two-handed slam that he punctuated with a long scream.

The Heat immediately responded. Matthews made a 3-pointer on the next Portland possession to give the Trail Blazers their last lead. Miami scored the next 14 points, turning the Blazers over on one end and either attacking the rim or shooting 3-pointers at the other.

When James got loose for a dunk with 2:38 remaining, history was his - the first stretch of six straight 30-point games on 60 percent or better shooting in each outing. Bosh made a jumper with 1:55 left to end the run and seal the win, Miami's sixth straight overall.

Miami next plays Thursday night in Oklahoma City, an NBA Finals rematch before heading into the All-Star break. The Heat topped the Thunder in the first meeting of the clubs this season, winning in Miami on Christmas Day.

A glance at the halftime boxscore - Portland 59, Miami 58 - would have suggested the opening two quarters were closely contested, back-and-forth basketball.

Not exactly.

There were deep and dramatic shifts in momentum, with James and Aldridge simply taking over play for long stretches in the early going.

Miami started with a flurry, hitting its first seven shots and doing so with James collecting five assists in the game's first 3:52. The Heat led 14-5 after that burst, and were still shooting 75 percent with a minute to go in the opening quarter.

They also were trailing at that point. The Blazers were doing anything they wanted on the offensive end.

Aldridge went on a personal 13-0 run over a stretch of nearly four minutes midway through the half, single-handedly seeming to turn what was a 29-24 Portland deficit into a 37-29 Portland lead. And another quick burst, this time a 10-1 run by the Blazers, gave the visitors what was their biggest lead, 57-43 with 4:48 left in the half.

Take away Miami's sizzling start, and the Blazers outscored the Heat 52-29 over a huge swath of the first half. Of course, by the break, everything looked just about even. James scored 10 points in a 15-2 Miami run to end the half, and the Blazers' lead was down to a single point at intermission.

It wound up as a 34-12 run by the Heat in all, as Miami rebuilt what became a 14-point lead midway through third.

Predictably, the Blazers came back. Lillard scored nine points in the final 4:36 of the third, and the Miami lead was down to 86-82 entering the fourth after James waited too long to shoot a beat-the-clock 30-footer that went in anyway.

NOTES: It was the 25th time Lillard scored more than 20 points this season, adding to his rookie-of-the-year credentials. ... Aldridge has at least 11 field goals in each of his past five games. ... The Heat were without Mike Miller, the latest victim of the flu bug that has ripped through the locker room, and lost starting forward Udonis Haslem to a lower-leg contusion in the opening quarter.

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