MIAMI — Dwyane Wade scored 27 points, Mario Chalmers added 20 and the Miami Heat snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Orlando Magic with a 103-97 victory Saturday night.
Udonis Haslem added 12 points — including two huge baskets down the stretch — for Miami, which wasted a 15-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but ultimately held on. The Heat finished with four turnovers, an all-time franchise low, and dealt Orlando its second straight loss.
Michael Beasley and Chris Quinn each scored 10 for the Heat.
Dwight Howard had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Orlando before getting ejected with 1.1 seconds remaining.
Rashard Lewis scored 21, Hedo Turkoglu scored 18 and Jameer Nelson added 16 for the Magic, including a 3-pointer that tied it with a shade under 3 minutes remaining.
But Miami closed with a 9-4 run, fueled by Haslem, and improved to 23-19 on the season. Orlando, which had the NBA’s best record earlier in the week, dropped to 33-10.
Miami led 56-52 at the break, with Orlando’s starters dominating frontcourt scoring (37-7) and the Heat duo of Wade and Chalmers having a decided edge in backcourt scoring over Courtney Lee and Jameer Nelson (29-6).
Chalmers hit his first six shots in the opening quarter, and the Heat used a 17-8 run to erase an early six-point deficit. Miami held the lead throughout the second quarter, with Wade perfect from the field (3-for-3) and Beasley perfect from the foul line (8-for-8).
Even with Wade on the bench resting up for the finish, Miami’s reserves extended the lead in the third.
Wade checked out with 3:12 left in the third, with Miami leading 73-66. Without him, Miami closed the quarter on an 8-0 run, with Quinn leading the way.
Quinn hit a 3-pointer, grabbed a rebound to set up a jumper by Daequan Cook, then swung the ball to Mark Blount for another 3 that put the Heat up 83-68 entering the fourth.
Over?
Not hardly.
The Magic had already overcome one 15-point deficit to win on the road this season, that coming Nov. 14 at Dallas, when they were down 71-56 with 6:52 left in the third.
And when Nelson hit a 3-pointer with 2:49 remaining, the margin — just like Magic — was gone. He pumped his right fist, and the game was tied at 94. Miami called time-out, and with the game on the line, it seemed like all Orlando eyes were on Wade.
Maybe they were, because Haslem was almost forgotten.
He scored on each of Miami’s two possessions, and the Heat held on, sealing the win when Wade stripped Chalmers with 8 seconds left and the Heat clinging to a three-point lead.
Notes: Blount played more in the first half alone — 8 minutes, 38
seconds — than he had in Miami’s last 26 games combined. Blount’s last playing time came Dec. 14, meaning he’d sat out 18 straight contests. … Lewis missed four minutes of the third quarter after spraining his right thumb, thanks to getting hit inadvertently by Howard as they battled for a rebound. He came back in wearing a blue brace around the joint. … Wade has scored at least 20 points in 14 of his last 15 games against the Magic. … From the hard-to-believe department: Orlando guard Anthony Johnson fouled Quinn three times in a 15-second span early in the fourth — then got a technical foul for arguing the last call.
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