Heat Keep Streaking, Thunder Edge Clippers

Heat 99, Knicks 93
   The Heat were down by 16 in the second quarter, but a strong second half, including a masterful fourth quarter from LeBron James, lifted them over the Knicks. Miami has now won 14 straight games.
   Down by 14 at halftime, Miami had spent much of the third quarter inching back in it. Two huge 3's to close the quarter made it a four-point game, setting the stage for a close and contested final stanza.
   Miami just had too much LeBron down the stretch in the fourth. He and Wade did a little of everything and Bosh and Battier hit open shots to give Miami a lead late in the game.
   For the Knicks, they missed the shots in the fourth that they were making earlier. Carmelo had 32 points on 9-19 shooting, but couldn't make the key plays offensively with LeBron on him late. J.R. Smith shot poorly in the second half, scoring 13 points on a tough 5-18 shooting. Amar'e Stoudemire and Jason Kidd both had solid, efficient games off the bench for New York.
   It was Smith who made the critical error for the Knicks. Down by four with under a minute left, he threw a lazy cross-court pass that was intercepted by LeBron for a breakaway dunk that turned out to be the dagger.
   This was the third game in a row where Miami's streak was in jeopardy, but they found a way to win. Next on their schedule is a game at Minnesota tomorrow night as they go for a franchise record 15-straight wins.

Thunder 108, Clippers 104
   With Tony Parker out for a month, the race to catch the Spurs was on today as the second and third place teams in the West faced off, with the Thunder getting the tough road win.
   Down by 13 at half, the Clippers were able to rally, but the pair of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were just too much in the end. Durant lead all scorers with 35 point, but it was Westbrook who had the best game. He had 29 points and 10 assists in a homecoming for the L.A. native.
   The Clippers played better when Chris Paul started looking to score in the second half. He finished with 26 points and eight assists. Jamal Crawford lead bench scorers as usual with 20 points and Blake Griffin also had 20, despite early foul trouble.
   It was because of this foul trouble that OKC got so many easy buckets in the first half. Durant and Westbrook were getting to the rim and then the line with ease, and when they weren't scoring, they were finding Serge Ibaka for open jumpers.
   As of now, these two teams would meet in the Western Semi-Finals. This win in the Staples Center got OKC a season sweep of the Clippers and also provided a good bounce back after Friday's crushing loss in Denver.