Heat ends skid by topping surging Lakers

MIAMI -- Less than two minutes to go, tie score, Kobe Bryant with the basketball and staring down Dwyane Wade.

Bryant's move was good. Wade's reaction was better. And in that moment, Miami's epic run of blown opportunities late in games started coming to an end.

Wade's steal set up LeBron James for the dunk that put Miami ahead to stay with 1:27 left, Chris Bosh scored 24 points in his first outing after saying he wanted more shots, and the Heat beat the Lakers, 94-88, last night. Miami ended a five-game losing streak and handed the two-time defending NBA champions their first loss in nine games.

"We had everything riding on this game, really, to be honest with you," Bosh said.

Wade scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and James had 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for Miami, which secured a postseason berth with 17 games left -- the earliest that's happened in franchise history.

That was an ancillary point: Winning again was all that mattered.

"We didn't want to run away from this," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We didn't want to hide from any of this. We want to get better. We want to make sure our game is right and ready when it really counts."

Bryant had 24 points and Pau Gasol 20 for the Lakers.

After Wade's steal led to the go-ahead basket, Bryant and Wade tangled again when Bryant tried a three-pointer with 1:06 left. Wade was credited with a block; Bryant later said he was fouled.

"It's clearly evident," Bryant said.

Said Wade: "I didn't."

That wasn't the lone bit of verbal jousting by the teams. Lakers coach Phil Jackson -- who's shown a flair for poking the Heat this season -- struck again before tipoff when he likened Miami's tendencies to what you'd see in an Xbox video game.

"I'm not a big fan of the style that Miami plays," Jackson said.

He might like it less now after the Heat finished a season sweep of the Lakers.

"Good game," Jackson said in a very hasty postgame availability. "They played better than we did. I'm sure we'll see them again sometime, I'm sure."

The Heat was unfazed by Jackson's latest salvo. Wade laughed and rolled his eyes, and James dismissed it.

"You don't get too caught up in Phil's commentary," James said. "Phil's going to be Phil."

Riley backs Spoelstra

Heat president Pat Riley gave Spoelstra a vote of confidence. In an interview with The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., Riley dismissed any notion that Spoelstra is on shaky ground as "the media being neurotic."

Riley made the remarks Wednesday while attending the Big East Tournament.