Wade’s 40 Propel Heat to 10th in Row

There was no way Dwyane Wade was going to miss a game against the Washington Wizards.

Wade returned to score 40 points and lead the Heat to its 10th straight win, a 118-112 victory over the Wizards on Wednesday night at Miami.

Washington has lost 11 straight -- 15 counting playoffs -- to Miami.

Wade, who sat out the previous two games because of a sprained right wrist, has scored 115 points in three games this season against Washington. His running jumper in the lane gave Miami a 114-112 lead with 21 seconds left.

“He is one of the best players in the league and he is only 24. That’s scary,” Washington’s Caron Butler said. “The way he absorbs the contact going to the rim, and then finding a way to finish is unbelievable.”

Jason Williams scored 21 points and Shaquille O’Neal added 19 points and 11 rebounds for Miami.

Gilbert Arenas scored 28 points for the Wizards, who lost for the fifth time in their last six games.

Detroit 106, Chicago 101 -- Rasheed Wallace scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and Richard Hamilton scored 14 of his 24 in the period in which the Pistons outscored the Bulls, 38-37, en route to improving to 27-2 at home.

Chauncey Billups led the Pistons with 27 points. The Bulls’ Ben Gordon had 11 of his 28 points in the fourth and Andres Nocioni had 15 of his 23 in the quarter.

Cleveland 98, Toronto 97 -- Damon Jones made a three-point shot at the buzzer at Toronto to lift the Cavaliers to their fourth straight victory.

Morris Peterson had given Toronto the lead with a three-pointer with 4.8 seconds left, but a double-teamed LeBron James found Jones.

James had 35 points for the Cavaliers. Peterson scored a season-high 31 and Mike James scored 30 for the Raptors.

Sacramento 123, Milwaukee 116 -- Mike Bibby scored 36 points to help the visiting Kings win for the fifth time in six games. Michael Redd scored 32 for Milwaukee, which has lost three in a row and seven of its last nine.

Houston 103, Indiana 99 -- Yao Ming had a season-high 38 points and 10 rebounds at Houston to help the Rockets rally from a 17-point deficit.

Peja Stojakovic scored 29 points for the Pacers, who led, 86-69, with 3:48 left in the third quarter. Houston’s Tracy McGrady left two minutes into the third quarter because of back problems.

Boston 104, Philadelphia 101 -- Paul Pierce had his first triple-double of the season with 31 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, scoring eight in the final 1:34 to help the Celtics overcome a five-point deficit at Boston. Allen Iverson scored 32 for Philadelphia.

Memphis 99, Seattle 74 -- Pau Gasol had the first triple-double of his career with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists at Seattle to help the Grizzlies win for the fourth time in five games.

Charlotte 104, Golden State 101 -- Jumaine Jones scored 29 points to send the visiting Warriors to their sixth straight loss. Jason Richardson led Golden State with 27 points.

Utah 96, Minnesota 93 -- Andrei Kirilenko had 15 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and eight blocked shots to lead the Jazz at Salt Lake City. Kevin Garnett had 26 points for Minnesota.

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Coach Jerry Sloan was reassured by Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller in a meeting that his 18-year run as coach was not in jeopardy after reports that Miller had threatened to fire Sloan in the midst of the Jazz blowing a 20-point lead Monday before eventually beating Orlando at Salt Lake City.... Orlando Coach Brian Hill was fined $25,000 by the NBA for saying after Monday’s loss at Utah that “I was disappointed that the game wasn’t decided by the players, that it was decided by the officials.”