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Record-breaking Heat burn Knicks without star players
2007-01-23
An injury-depleted Miami Heat scored a franchise record 27 consecutive points on their way to a crushing 101-83 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday. After the Knicks took an early 3-2 lead, the Heat scored 27 consecutive points to lead 29-3 despite playing without their two All-Stars, Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal. New York (18-25) missed 10 consecutive shots as their one-point advantage became a 26-point deficit while the Heat made 13 of their first 19 shots much to the delight of their hometown crowd. Wade was a late omission so he could rest the sprained ankle he picked up against Dallas on Sunday, while O'Neal missed his 35th consecutive game following knee surgery, although he is close to returning to action for the defending NBA champions. Miami (19-22) surged to a 40-12 lead after the first quarter and although the Knicks did crawl back to within six points at one point in the second half, they never got any closer than that. Jason Kapono scored 22 points to lead the Heat, while Udonis Haslem added 19 points and 10 rebounds and Jason Williams had 20 points. Gary Payton dished off 13 assists, his highest total since joining the Heat in 2005. "It's always tough without D-Wade and Shaq, but the NBA's not going to give us a break," Williams told reporters. Eddy Curry scored 26 points to lead New York and Jamal Crawford had 23 for the Knicks. Their first quarter deficit was the second-largest in franchise history. Stephon Marbury sat out the second half with a sore knee. *Carmelo Anthony returned to the line-up after serving a 15-game suspension and teamed up with Allen Iverson for the first time to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 115-98 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Anthony had 28 points and Iverson had 23. *The San Antonio Spurs stretched their win streak to 18 games over the Boston Celtics with a 93-89 road win. The Celtics last beat the Spurs on January 8, 1997. *Chris Bosh scored 20 points and Jose Calderon added a season-high 19 and 11 assists to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 105-84 win over the Charlotte Bobcats. *The Orlando Magic snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 90-79. Grant Hill led Orlando with 22 points. *Jermaine O'Neal had 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers snapped a four-game losing streak and won for the first time since making an eight-player deal last week, downing the Chicago Bulls 98-91.
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