SAN FRANCISCO -- Without Dwyane Wade for the fourth straight game, the two-time defending champions Miami Heat held off a late rally to beat the Los Angeles Lakers at the American Airlines Arena Thursday night.
Chris Bosh filled in Wade's scoring void with 31 while LeBron James added 27 and 13 rebounds and the Heat edged the Lakers, 109-102.
Already without Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, the Lakers also missed the services of Steve Blake, Jordan Farmar and Xavier Henry. But despite a manpower shortage, the Lakers ate away at Miami's 16-point lead and closed to within 106-101 with still 2:05 left in the fourth quarter.
The Lakers rally, however, ended with Bosh jumper that pushed the Heat advantage to seven with 54.2 seconds remaining.
Besides the Bosh-James combo, the Heat guards duo of Mario Chalmers an Norris Cole also gave L.A.'s defense fits with a combined 22 points and eight assists.
Paul Gasol and Jodie Meeks provided the Lakers offense with some spark at 22 points apiece while Nick Young drilled 19. But Los Angeles shot just 45.5 percent from the field (40 of 88) and fell to 16-27 in the Western Conference standings.
The Heat are 30-12, three games behind the 31-8 Indiana Pacers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. (RM)
Photo: Chris Bosh (L) led Miami's 109-102 victory over the Lakers with 31 points.
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