MIAMI - Dwyane Wade scored Miami's final eight points in the fourth quarter, and James Posey and Gary Payton each hit a key 3-pointer in overtime to help the Heat rally past the New Orleans Hornets 109-102 Tuesday night.
Wade, who started the night 3-of-16, finished with 25 points and 10 assists, and it was his play down the stretch during regulation that gave the Heat a chance to win its third straight game without center Shaquille O'Neal.
With Miami trailing 90-83 with 1:59 left, Wade scored the final seven points, including a tying jumper with 35 seconds remaining to force overtime at 90-all.
Posey started overtime with a 3 - his first points of the game - and Payton followed with another as Miami opened a 96-90 lead to take command.
"I'm not really sure how we won the game," Miami coach Stan Van Gundy said. "It was a crazy game because they totally outplayed us and outworked us."
The Hornets lost for the third straight game, but not without giving the Heat a scare. P.J. Brown's three-point play capped a 10-2 spurt, putting New Orleans ahead 87-80 with 4:08 left in the fourth quarter.
A short jumper by Brown gave the Hornets a 90-83 lead before Wade took over. During that stretch, he had an outside jumper, a three-point play and another jumper from the top of the key to tie it.
The Heat was playing its sixth straight game without O'Neal, out with a sprained right ankle.
Antoine Walker scored 21 off the bench for Miami, and Jason Williams had 17. Alonzo Mourning added 10 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Heat.
Brown scored 24 and added 12 rebounds against his former team.
CAVS 114, WIZARDS 99: LeBron James reminded Larry Hughes why he came to Cleveland in the first place. James scored a season-high 37 and Hughes added 22 in his first game against his former team as Cleveland improved to 4-0 at home and won its fifth straight.
James, who helped recruit Hughes as a free agent during the offseason, scored just two points in the first quarter but followed with 14 in the second, 14 in the third and seven in the fourth before leaving with 2:32 left.
Hughes was only 6-of-18 from the field, but he added eight assists and made two 3-pointers and scored 12 in the final 5:03 to thwart a Washington rally.
Washington's Gilbert Arenas, who scored a league-high 43 on Saturday night against San Antonio, was held to 18 - 10 below his average - and shot just 4-of-17. Antawn Jamison led the Wizards with 26 points.
ROCKETS 94, WOLVES 89: Tracy McGrady scored 25 and made three consecutive clutch plays down the stretch to lead visiting Houston.
McGrady, who went 13-for-13 at the free-throw line, grabbed eight rebounds and had 13 points in the fourth quarter. He hit a long jumper over Trenton Hassell with 2:35 remaining to put Houston up for good 85-84 after it trailed most of the night.
After Wally Szczerbiak missed a shot on the other end, McGrady zipped a pass from the top of the key to give Rafer Alston an easy layup with 2:04 left. Then Hassell's risky crosscourt pass was stolen by McGrady on the following possession to seal a much-needed victory for the Rockets, who had lost four of their previous five games.
PISTONS 115, CELTICS 100: Chauncey Billups scored 17 of his 25 in the third quarter to help host Detroit improve to 7-0. The Pistons overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half to record the third-best start in team history, trailing 1970-71 (9-0) and the championship team of 1988-89 (8-0). Detroit also got 25 points from Richard Hamilton and 20 points and 14 rebounds from Rasheed Wallace. Ricky Davis led the Celtics with 31 points and Paul Pierce added 23.
SIXERS 104, RAPTORS 92: Allen Iverson scored 34 and added 12 assists, and Chris Webber had 28 points and 16 rebounds as host Philadelphia won its fifth straight. Since losing their first three games, the streaking Sixers have been perfect. They won all four games on their longest homestand of the year and get the winless Raptors again tonight in Toronto. The Sixers broke the game open in the first quarter. Webber made all six baskets and scored 14 points, Iverson went 5-for-6 for 13 points, and the Sixers shot 77 percent overall as they raced to a 19-point lead.
SPURS 103, HAWKS 79: Tim Duncan had 23 points and seven rebounds as San Antonio beat winless Atlanta for the eighth straight time at home. Manu Ginobili scored 24 on 9-of-13 shooting for the Spurs, and Tony Parker added 18. Al Harrington led the Hawks with 23 points and nine rebounds. He scored Atlanta's first 14 and shot 10-for-15 in the first quarter to help the Hawks build a 31-18 lead.
MAVS 83, NUGGETS 80: Dirk Nowitzki scored 11 of his season-high 35 in the fourth quarter and DeSagana Diop blocked a layup attempt by Carmelo Anthony with 2.9 seconds left, helping Dallas overcome a 19-point deficit. Diop set career highs with 16 rebounds and six blocks and Marquise Daniels had a season-high 17 points. Denver fell to 0-4 on the road and lost Kenyon Martin after eight minutes because of a flare-up of tendinitis in his left knee.
NETS 109, SONICS 99: Nenad Krstic scored a season-high 25 and host New Jersey held Ray Allen without a field goal for three quarters in snapping a two-game losing streak. Rashard Lewis had 29 points for Seattle.
