NEW YORK
LeBron James tied his playoff career high with 49 points, Chris Bosh made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 57 seconds left, and the Miami Heat beat the Brooklyn Nets 102-96 on Monday night for a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
James carried the Heat nearly the entire way until Bosh hit the shot that put Miami ahead for good. Ray Allen followed with four free throws, and James finished it off with one more, putting the Heat in position to wrap it up at home Wednesday in Game 5.
James was 16-of-24 from the field and 14-of-19 from the free throw line in matching the 49 points he scored for Cleveland against Orlando in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals. He missed his second free throw with 1.1 seconds left, muttering to himself after it fell out.
Joe Johnson scored 18 points for the Nets, who were 15-of-25 from 3-point range in their Game 3 victory but only 5-of-22 in this one. Paul Pierce scored 16 points, while Deron Williams and Shaun Livingston each had 13.
Dwyane Wade scored 15 points on the night his Heat postseason record of 46 points was broken. Bosh finished with 12.
Miami pulled out a thrilling victory in a game neither team led by double digits and has won at least one road game in 14 consecutive series, breaking the record set by the Chicago Bulls from 1991-94.
Brooklyn opened the fourth quarter with six consecutive points to grab an 82-79 edge, and neither team had a bigger margin than that in the period until Kevin Garnett’s two free throws tied it with 2 minutes, 30 seconds remaining.
Both teams then couldn’t score, with Bosh missing a pair of jumpers before getting a third crack at it when the Heat swung the ball around to him in the corner in front of the Brooklyn bench for a 3 that made it 97-94. Johnson then missed a jumper while trying to draw James’ sixth foul, and Allen’s free throws put it away.
Wade scored 46 points against Boston in the first round of the 2010 playoffs, and James’ best in a Heat uniform had also come against the Celtics, his memorable 45-point performance that saved Miami’s season in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals.
Pierce, who asked to guard James after Game 1, was on the wrong end of an assault that was ever better this time.
James and the Heat had shrugged off a couple days of chatter from Pierce, who said the Nets weren’t afraid of the Heat. But things were testy at the start, with first-quarter technical fouls for Alan Anderson, Shane Battier, James and Pierce. Miami started quickly again, making nine of its first 12 shots, and led 27-22 after one behind 12 points from James.
He had 13 consecutive Miami points in the third, but the Nets were able to get back in the game.
