PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dwyane Wade had 32 points and 10 rebounds, LeBron James finished with 24 points and 15 boards and the Miami Heat took a 3-0 lead in their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers with a 100-94 victory Thursday night.
Chris Bosh scored 19 points for the Heat, who rallied from an early 10-point deficit to move within one win of a sweep of the Eastern Conference series.
Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.
James hit the court hard late in the fourth quarter and briefly sat against the scorer's table. He grimaced when his teammates pulled him up and he slowly walked back to Miami's bench.
The Sixers were determined to win one on their home court and played like a team trying all it could to get the series back to Miami.
Elton Brand had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the 76ers.
Wade missed practice before Game 2 with a migraine headache. Hours before Game 3, Wade said he was fine.
"I don't have to worry about bright lights," he said.
He was fantastic under the postseason spotlight.
Wade delivered with a string of big baskets — he was 10 of 19 from the field overall — in the third and fourth quarters that spurred the Heat to the brink of the conference semifinals. He drew a foul on a spin move against Jrue Holiday and hit two free throws with 51.6 seconds left that about clinched the game.
"We're a desperate team right now," James said. "We want to continue to play that way. D-Wade had an unbelievable game ... and we're ready to close it out."
Wade was 12 for 12 from the free throw line. For all the hype around the Big Three, Wade remembers he was the Biggest One in Miami. He still plays that way and the Heat needed all of his effort against the scrappy Sixers.
Lou Williams missed a 3 in the final minute that would have made it a one-point game. Holiday scored 20 points and Williams finished with 15.
For most of the game, it seemed like a Game 1 rerun. The Sixers' fast start would get picked away by Miami, the Big Three would take over and the Heat would roll.
When James hit a pull-up jumper for a 54-52 lead early in the third for Miami's first lead of the game, the plan was going as scripted.
The Sixers had a whole new ending planned.
Jodie Meeks and Holiday bookended 3s during a stunning 12-0 run that helped them regain the lead in front of rollicking crowd that truly made it feel like big-time, meaningful basketball was alive and thriving in Philadelphia.
In a play that showed what make the Heat great, James stumbled and flipped an underhand pass to Wade for a ferocious dunk that cut it 68-64.
"It definitely started a run for us," James said. "Luckily I was able to get rid of the ball before I traveled and D-Wade was able to slam it home. It's a great play for us, a great team win and we're looking to close them out on Sunday."
King James played jester when he fired an airball late in the quarter — the crowd reveled in that miscue — and the Sixers kept a 75-73 lead into the fourth.
Fans booed each time James touched the ball, but they sure got a kick out of his one misfire.
Philadelphia's fast start fizzled down the stretch and a team that showed amazing resiliency all season simply doesn't have the talent to match up with the Heat.
The 76ers made their first four shots, raced to a 9-0 lead and drove a rare pumped sellout crowd bonkers.
Philadelphia's stellar first quarter was a familiar feeling for both teams. In Game 1, the Sixers made eight of their first 10 shots and led 25-11. While the Sixers coughed up the lead in the second quarter in that one, they stretched the lead to double figures and never lost the lead, going into halftime up 52-50.
Brand, who scored only 20 points the first two games, established his mid-range jumper and scored 13 points in the first half. The Sixers only turned the ball over twice and proved the Game 2 flop was well behind them.
Williams delivered on his two pregame promises.
The first compared Philly's fans to Miami's: "Ours will be better."
Fueled by "Rocky" clips, 20,404 fans were stoked from the time the lights were dimmed for intros to the final horn.
The other: The 76ers would "fight hard, fight to the finish."
They did. They just didn't win.
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Bulls 88, Pacers 84: Derrick Rose was beaten up and shaken up by Indiana's trapping defense, which was intent on shutting him down at all costs.
The Chicago Bulls guard struggled all game long and even lost his cool at times, but he still found a way to be the difference-maker. He scored 23 points, including the go-ahead layup with 17.8 seconds left, to help the Bulls beat the Pacers 88-84 on Thursday night and take a 3-0 lead in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Rose's late basket was his only field goal in the second half. He made just 4 of 18 shots in the game as he was blanketed, and at times pummeled, by Indiana's Paul George and Dahntay Jones.
"It was a little rough out there, but it's basketball," he said. "They had something to prove."
Rose, guarded by Jones, drove left for the layup that gave the Bulls an 86-84 lead and sparked "MVP!" chants from the thousands of Bulls fans who made the 3-hour drive.
Danny Granger had a chance to give the Pacers the lead, but his 3-pointer was off, and Chicago's Ronnie Brewer rebounded. Brewer was fouled, and he made two free throws with 1.1 seconds left to put the game out of reach.
Rose missed his first eight shots of the second half, but he never hesitated when it was time to go for the lead late.
"The whole time, I was just thinking I'll go to the hole," he said. "It was tough the whole night the way they were playing, but at that time, I saw space and went for it."
Rose's teammates expected him to deliver.
"We have had a lot of close games all year," Bulls guard Kyle Korver said. "He always wants the ball at the end, and usually, he comes through."
Rose made up for his shooting difficulties by making 13 of 15 free throws. Chicago can close out the series on Saturday.
"The bottom line is we're up 3-0," Chicago forward Carlos Boozer said. "We're getting better. Our defense was much better than it was the first two games of the series, and we've got to be ready for Game 4."
Rose averaged 37.5 points in the first two games of the series, and the Pacers made it clear that slowing him was their top priority heading into Game 3. Their poor shooting — 38 percent — cost them a chance to take advantage.
Luol Deng had 21 points and Korver added 12 for the Bulls.
Granger, who led the Pacers with 21 points, said the Pacers wanted something better than the contested 26-footer that bounced off the rim with 2.2 seconds remaining.
"We didn't get the look we wanted," he said. "That was the best shot we could get. That wasn't the way we wanted it, but that was the way it happened."
The Pacers, who lost double-digit leads in both of the first two games, led by five points in the fourth quarter on Thursday and couldn't hold on.
Indiana had primarily used George, a 6-foot-8 rookie, on Rose in the first two games. This game, they added Jones, known for his defensive prowess, to the mix.
"I thought we did a great job on Rose," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "I had a lot of confidence that they would do a good job on him."
Indiana took a 68-65 lead on a layup by Jones with just over 10 minutes to play. His fadeaway jumper over Korver bumped Indiana's lead to 70-65.
Rose tied the game with two free throws, then gave the Bulls a 72-70 lead with two free throws after he drove and drew Indiana center Roy Hibbert's fifth foul. Korver followed with a 3-pointer to push Chicago's lead to 75-70 with 7 minutes to go.
Indiana closed within 75-74, but Korver struck again with a 3 to increase Chicago's lead to 78-74 with 6 minutes left. A baseline jumper by Granger tied the score at 84 with 1:42 remaining to set up the frantic ending.
The Pacers went up 46-45 early in the second half on two free throws by George. A layup by Darren Collison put Indiana up 50-47 as he showed no ill effects after spraining his left ankle in Game 2 on Monday.
Rose was fouled by Jones on a 3-pointer with 1:28 left in the third quarter, and he made all three free throws to put the Bulls ahead 63-59. The Pacers could have taken the lead at the end of the third quarter, but A.J. Price's short jumper bounced off the rim, and the Bulls led 65-64.
Again, Indiana couldn't close late.
