Even ailing, James leads Heat past Lakers

MIAMI (AP):LeBron James was sitting at his locker after the game, a bottle of cold medicine at his side.

The Los Angeles Lakers would be hard-pressed to believe it was needed.

James shook off flu-like symptoms to put up 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists - hours after being told to stay away from the team's shootaround practice after calling in with a cough and chest congestion - and the Miami Heat topped the Lakers 98-87 on Thursday night.

Chris Bosh scored 15 for Miami, which won their second straight after a three-game slide.

"A chest cold can get to you at times," James said. "But I felt like I could help the team."

Shane Battier scored 11 and led the way defensively on Kobe Bryant. Mario Chalmers finished with 10 for Miami, which led by as many as 23 points and improved to 5-1 at home. Miami moved to 5-0 this season without Dwyane Wade, who missed his second straight game with a sprained right ankle. He missed three games earlier this season with left-foot soreness.

No problem - James simply did his thing, yet again.

"We don't take his talent for granted, nor do we take Dwyane's talent or Chris' talent," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "They're special players and they can rise to the occasion."

Pau Gasol scored a season-high 26 for the Lakers, Bryant scored 24 - 14 of them coming in the fourth quarter - and Andrew Bynum finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

adjustments

"We tried to adjust to some things," said Bryant, who had a four-game stretch of scoring at least 40 points earlier this month followed by a two-game total of 38 since. "We might want to go back to some of the things that we were doing a few weeks ago in terms of me being on some spots on the floor and things where I'm most comfortable."

Bryant put together a great late run to attempt a comeback, banking in a three-pointer and following that seconds later with a steal and transition dunk that got the Lakers within 94-84 with two minutes left. But Derek Fisher's three-point try on the next Los Angeles possession hit the front of the rim, Udonis Haslem controlled the rebound and James made a 15-foot runner to seal the outcome.

"They were the aggressors on both ends of the floor until the last few minutes of the game," Lakers coach Mike Brown said of the Heat. "We were aggressive the last six, seven minutes. You can't go over a 48-minute game against a team like this and allow them to be the aggressor for most of the night."

It was the first time James had gone against Brown, his former coach in Cleveland. James ran over to Brown moments before tip-off for a long embrace.

"I had a great time coaching LeBron," Brown said. "I wouldn't be in this suit if it wasn't for him."

ROCKETS 90, HORNETS 88, OT

Kevin Martin scored 27 of his 32 points in the first half, Samuel Dalembert grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds and Houston Rockets survived one of the worst fourth quarters in team history to win at home. Courtney Lee scored a season-high 17 points and Kyle Lowry added 10 points and eight assists for the Rockets, who've won five in a row.

Jason Smith scored 17 points and Jarrett Jack and Marco Bellinelli added 15 points apiece for the Hornets, who've lost 12 of 13.

UTAH 91, DALLAS 94

Shawn Marion scored a season-high 22 points, including a late layup, as Dallas snapped a two-game losing streak and cooled off the league's hottest team.

The Mavs were coming off back-to-back last-possession losses to the Lakers and Clippers, respectively.

Utah led by three early in the fourth after a dunk by C.J. Miles. The game was tied at 87 before Jason Terry hit a three-pointer and Marion a layup.

Al Jefferson led Utah with 22 points.