MIAMI -- Dwyane Wade scored 21 of his 32 points in the first half, Goran Dragic added 20 and the Miami Heat handed LeBron James another loss on his former home floor with a 106-92 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.
Hassan Whiteside had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Mario Chalmers finished with 16 points off the bench for the Heat, who won both of James' regular-season trips to Miami this season -- his first two games back since leaving the team and returning to Cleveland last summer.
Miami closed the first half on a 19-5 run to take a 56-38 lead and pushed the margin to 25 in the third.
James scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter for Cleveland, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. Kyrie Irving added 21 (see full recap).
Mavs rally for crucial win over Thunder
DALLAS -- Chandler Parsons scored 31 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 22 with some big 3-pointers and the Dallas Mavericks rallied from 15 down in the third quarter for a 119-115 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
Russell Westbrook just missed his seventh triple-double in 10 games, finishing with 24 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds. But he picked up his fifth and sixth fouls 0.6 seconds apart trying to bring the Thunder back in the final minute.
It was a playoff-like finish to a game that had all the elements of a tense postseason matchup through the first three quarters. There were five technical fouls and matching flagrant fouls called on Tyson Chandler and Westbrook.
NBA
The Mavericks moved into fifth place in the Western Conference and put a little more distance between themselves and the Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans, who are a half-game apart in the race for the final playoff spot (see full recap).
Jazz bury Hornets behind three-pointers
SALT LAKE CITY -- Rookie Rodney Hood set a career high for the second time in three games with 24 points, and the Utah Jazz extended their season-best win streak to six games with a 94-66 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.
The Jazz put together their most prolific first half of the season with a record-setting barrage of 3-point baskets. Utah hit 12 of 15 3-pointers to set a franchise record for the most in a half. The Jazz led by 14 after the first quarter and 61-30 at halftime.
Gordon Hayward scored 18 points while Rudy Gobert had nine points and 22 rebounds -- his third consecutive game with 19-plus boards.
Lance Stephenson led the Hornets with 17 points off the bench. Al Jefferson finished with 10 points and seven rebounds (see full recap).