NBA - Heat snap skid, end Lakers' winning streak

MIAMI (NBA) - The Miami Heat stopped the rot - at least temporarily - with a 94-88 home triumph over the red-hot Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.

Losers of five straight and under intense scrutiny by the American media, the Heat finally put together a full game of solid basketball against the two-time defending champions.

LeBron James, who had 19 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for the Heat, hit a go-ahead basket with 1:27 remaining on a fast break dunk after a steal by Dwyane Wade.

Wade then followed with a lay-up before James scored the last two points of the game with two free-throws just 19 seconds from the end.

Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol missed jumpers at the end for the Lakers, who had their eight-game winning streak halted.

"We didn't want to run away from this," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the pressure his team has been under.

There was an avalanche of attention to fall on Miami after their defeat to Chicago on Sunday, due in part to Spoelstra’s comments that a couple of players had been crying in the locker room.

He later backtracked and accused the media of trying to sensationalize the story.

"We didn't want to hide from any of this,” he said on Thursday night. “We want to get better.

"We want to make sure our game is right and ready when it really counts."

Miami, third in the Eastern Conference, closed the gap on leaders Boston to three and a half games.

Chicago are second and one and a half games adrift of the Celtics.

Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets claimed a very impressive road win at Phoenix, winning 116-97.

The Nuggets won in the desert for the first time since 2004 as Brazil international Nene scored 22 points.

Point guard Ty Lawson has made the most of his increased playing time in Denver since the trade of playmaker Chauncey Billups to New York with Carmelo Anthony.

Lawson had 20 points, 11 assists and four steals.

Denver (38-27), fifth in the Western Conference, moved a half game ahead of Portland (37-27) in the Western Conference.

Poland's Marcin Gortat is no longer a teammate of Dwight Howard in Orlando but with Phoenix on Thursday he finished with numbers that resembled those routinely put up by the Team USA center.

Gortat finished with 14 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.

Phoenix (33-30) are one and a half games behind Memphis (36-30), who are eighth in the Western Conference.

Anthony and the Knicks, meanwhile, suffered a 127-109 defeat at Dallas, who got 22 points, eight boards and two steals from Shawn Marion.

New York are sixth in the Eastern Conference at 34-30 and just a game ahead of Philadelphia.

Dallas (47-18) are second in the West, five and a half games behind San Antonio (52-12).

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