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Wade drops 45 points as Heat down Houston

Dec 30, 2010 - 6:37 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Dwyane Wade recorded a season-high 45 points and the Miami Heat won their 10th in a row on the road, 125-119, over the Rockets, snapping Houston's eight-game home winning streak.

The Heat gave up at least 100 points for the first time in their last 17 games, since their last away defeat, 106-95, at Dallas on November 27. They've won four in a row and 16 of their last 17 overall.

"We had to win it in a different way," Wade said. "Usually we like to hold teams under 100, but tonight we gave up a lot more than that, but came up with the win."

Chris Bosh ended with 21 points, while LeBron James totaled 20 points, nine assists and six rebounds for Miami, which finished December with an incredible 15-1 mark, setting a franchise record for the most wins in the month. The Heat shot 58.1 percent from the field and sealed the victory by going 34-of-37 at the foul line.

Wade, who went 17-of-24 from the floor and sank all 10 of his foul shots, also had seven rebounds. It was his 30th career game with at least 40 points.

Luis Scola had 22 points, Kevin Martin 21 and Aaron Brooks chipped in 20 points and nine assists for Houston, which saw its five-game victory surge come to an end.

"We thought we had a good chance to win this game, but we didn't do enough," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "You can't give up that many points, especially putting them on the line or giving them get the basket that many times."

A turnaround jumper from Jordan Hill brought Houston within 92-89 with 10:38 remaining in the game. Wade was then fouled hard by Brooks en route to the hoop. After remaining in the ground for a few minutes, officials changed the call to a flagrant foul. Wade made two free throws, and after the Heat got the ball back he sank a running jumper, turning that into a three-point play.

Houston fought uphill the rest of the way, although Martin's jumper with 57.2 seconds left had the Rockets within 117-114. With little choice but foul, the Heat capitalized at the charity stripe. Joel Anthony sank four foul shots in a span of eight seconds and Miami finished 18-of-20 in the period to effectively seal off the Rockets.

James sank a jumper in the closing seconds of the opening quarter, widening Miami's lead to 35-28, this despite Houston having no turnovers in the opening 12 minutes. The difference was Miami shooting at a 60 percent clip from the floor.

It was a back-and-forth second quarter with the Rockets going to the break with a 62-59 edge, but Miami was on fire in the third, sinking 12-of-18 shots. That helped the Heat to an 88-84 edge at period's end. They closed the quarter on a 14-4 run.

Game Notes

The Heat's 10-0 road record in December were the most victories outside Miami for a month in franchise history. The team's best road winning streak is 14 games, set from November 19 - December 29, 1996...This was Houston's first home defeat since November 22 against Phoenix...Miami has won three straight meetings.