LeBron James led the Miami Heat to their 12th straight win, pulling him within six wins of the longest streak Michael Jordan streak had during his year with the Bulls (see side-by-side comparison of each game below). James scored 40 points and had 16 assists, including several to Dwyane Wade who added 39 points as the Heat survived for a double overtime win over the Sacramento Kings 141-129.
The Heat would need to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies at home, then win at the Knicks and Timberwolves before coming home to win three more to tie the streak at 18 games. The 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers have the longest winning streak ever at 33 games.
While Wade and Scottie Pippen give James and Jordan two of the best No. 2 players ever, both players also have benefitted from a tattoo covered dominant rebounder who rarely scores. Jordan’s dominant rebounder was Dennis Rodman, who is in North Korea Tuesday, while the Heat’s Chris Anderson continued to add the inside muscle the Heat was missing as well as scoring 10 points of his own.
The struggling Kings franchise showed surprising spark in threatening to end the Heat’s winning streak. The inconsistent but physically dominant DeMarcus Cousins finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds and Marcus Thornton came off the bench for 36 points, the highest of a reserve this year.
Jordan shot 49.5% during the 1995-96 season to lead the Bulls to a 72-10 season. This month, James shot 64.1% from the floor (139 for 217).
Dec 29 1995-Feb 2 1996 | Bulls | Opp | Streak | Feb 3 2013-March 10 2013 | Heat | Opp | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indiana Pacers | h | 120 | 93 | W 1 | Toronto Raptors | a | 100 | 85 |
Atlanta Hawks | h | 95 | 93 | W 2 | Charlotte Bobcats | h | 99 | 94 |
Houston Rockets | h | 100 | 86 | W 3 | Houston Rockets | h | 114 | 108 |
Charlotte Hornets | a | 117 | 93 | W 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | h | 111 | 89 |
Milwaukee Bucks | h | 113 | 84 | W 5 | Los Angeles Lakers | h | 107 | 97 |
Seattle SuperSonics | h | 113 | 87 | W 6 | Portland Trail Blazers | h | 117 | 104 |
Philadelphia 76ers | a | 120 | 93 | W 7 | Oklahoma City Thunder | a | 110 | 100 |
Washington Bullets | a | 116 | 109 | W 8 | Atlanta Hawks | a | 103 | 90 |
Philadelphia 76ers | h | 116 | 104 | W 9 | Chicago Bulls | a | 86 | 67 |
Toronto Raptors | a | 92 | 89 | W 10 | Philadelphia 76ers | a | 114 | 90 |
Detroit Pistons | a | 111 | 96 | W 11 | Cleveland Cavaliers | h | 109 | 105 |
New York Knicks | a | 99 | 79 | W 12 | Sacramento Kings | h | 141 | 129 |
Vancouver Grizzlies | h | 104 | 84 | W 13 | Memphis Grizzlies | h | ||
Miami Heat | h | 102 | 80 | W 14 | New York Knicks | a | ||
Phoenix Suns | h | 93 | 82 | W 15 | Minnesota Timberwolves | a | ||
Houston Rockets | a | 98 | 87 | W 16 | Orlando Magic | h | ||
Sacramento Kings | a | 105 | 85 | W 17 | Philadelphia 76ers | h | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | a | 99 | 84 | W 18 | Indiana Pacers | h | ||
Average Bulls Score | 106 | 89 | Average Heat Score | 109 | 97 |
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