All of Miami's talent wasn't enough put away a Sixers team revved up like it was a playoff game. The Heat had a 10-point lead early in the fourth, but it wasn't enough, at least not yet.
Jrue Holiday, the 76ers' All-Star point guard, showed no fear of the moment when he dunked on a leaping James for the tying bucket.
James came right back and made one of two free throws for a 92-91 lead. Holiday dribbled the ball into Chris Bosh's leg, then off his own foot, leading to Wade's tip for a three-point lead after James missed twice at the rim. James drove from beyond the arc and missed from the right side, he put up his own rebound off the back of the rim, and Wade slid in underneath two Sixers defenders for the bucket.
"I miss two gimmes and D-Wade was able to tip 'em home," James said. "It was just great of him not giving up on the play and putting us up."
Wade scored 21 as the Heat needed big baskets over the final 2 minutes to top the Sixers for the milestone win. He stuck with the ball on James' misses and scored the clutch tip that made it a three-point lead with 29 seconds left that squashed the Sixers' upset bid.
"It shows you he, like many of our guys, are just willing to make winning plays at the end," coach Erik Spoelstra said.
James and the Heat have started to acknowledge just how special this winning streak is in a season that has them running away with the Eastern Conference.
They opened a five-game road trip as 8?-point favorites over the slumping Sixers, a team they've defeated three times during the streak. They beat Atlanta on Tuesday for streak win No. 19, then made the flight to Philadelphia that put them in just before dawn.
"You get sleep when you can and do your job," center Chris Bosh said.
Maybe fatigue played a bit of a role in Miami's inability to truly put away the Sixers. Led by Thaddeus Young, the Sixers opened the third quarter on a 16-8 run that helped slice the lead to four. Miami led 71-66 at the end of the quarter.
The Sixers hung around in the fourth, too. Dorell Wright hit a 3-pointer to make it a six-point game and he followed with a steal and fast-break dunk to cut it 82-78. Sixers fans coming to see a slice of history were suddenly rooting for history denied. Philadelphia's fans started going wild to the "Make Some Noise!" sign on the video board and started singing the catchy anthem, "1-2-3-4-5-Sixers!"
"At the end, we just couldn't come up with that one rebound," coach Doug Collins said. "I thought we executed, got some shots at the end, and just couldn't quite find a way to get over the top."
Fans in Heat jerseys dotted the arena and dozens packed the baseline three rows deep snapping pictures of Miami's pregame drills. James wowed them with some around-the-back reverses that served as a sneak peek for what was ahead.
James, the reigning MVP, turned the second quarter into his own dunk contest. It helped that he didn't have any competition.
With flair, James threw down thunderous dunks about every time he touched the ball. His best came on a reverse he brought between the legs that had the sellout crowd of 20,398 "Oooohhhh!" in amazement. His dunk capped a 17-2 run that put the Heat up 10 and helped them cruise toward a 51-39 halftime lead.
But the first half wasn't all about James' dazzling dunks. The Heat had 14 assists on 19 baskets and Shane Battier came off the bench to hit a pair of lead-stretching 3-pointers. It's the kind of teamwork that has the Heat rolling.
"You have to have a unique group that are willing to sacrifice, a unique group willing to keep perspective of what we're playing for and not get caught up in all the noise outside," Spoelstra said. "There are so many distractions, not only in this league, but everyday life."
The Lions responded well and were soon deep in Civil Service territory where they were awarded a penalty which outside centre Doz Ward duly converted.
In earlier games, Claverdon have sat back on an early lead but this was not to be the case and they soaked up everything that Service could throw at them and returned it with interest.
The visitors tried to kick their way through but when they aimed for the corner winger Tom Johnson picked up the ball and darted 30 metres up field.
Fly-half James Williams expertly kicked for the corner and when Service failed to defend it properly, a loose ball was pounced on by flanker Andy Wenborn for the opening try of the match.
Ward slotted the extra two points from out wide and the Lions led 10-0 at half time.
Civil Service hit back strongly in the second half but Claverdon defended superbly to keep them at bay.
Constant infringements saw the referee warn Claverdon to be on the best behaviour but when second row Scott Conduit gave away another penalty the referee showed him a yellow card.
This was exactly the kick-start that Service needed and shortly after they burst through to score a converted try.
The sides were evened up when a Service player was shown yellow for indiscipline but the visitors scored the next points.
With the backs not lined up properly, a chip to the corner found the Service outside centre first to the ball to give them the lead. A failed conversion meant that there was only two points in this encounter with ten minutes remaining.
The crowd were still in good voice and this spurred Claverdon to exert constant pressure on the tired Civil Service defence.
When a Service player was deemed to go off his feet it was set up perfectly for Doz Ward who just found his mark with the penalty which bounced off the inside of the post and over to regain the lead.
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