Heat makes two moves by holding off Raptors

Until the final seconds, James Posey’s night on offense was forgettable. He missed eight of nine shots, not even including a fourth-quarter dunk attempt that went awry and was scored as a turnover.

Yet in the deciding moments, Posey sealed the Miami Heat’s most important win of the season.

He was four of four from the line and grabbed two crucial defensive rebounds in the last 18.9 seconds, ensuring that the Heat would hold off the visiting Toronto Raptors, 92-89, Tuesday night, a victory that pushed Miami past Washington and back into first place in the Southeast Division.

“I felt comfortable despite how I played from the field,” said Posey, who had a game-high 13 rebounds and a team-best five assists to go with his six points. “I dream about those situations. For the most part, in my dream, I come through.”

Miami also clinched a 2-1 win in the season series, meaning if the teams finish with identical records, the Heat would get the tiebreaker edge that could prove vital when deciding home-court advantage for the opening playoff round.

Shaquille O’Neal had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Miami, which held Toronto to 38% shooting and survived being outscored, 46-36, after halftime.

Chris Bosh had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who trailed by as many as 15 in the first half and were down, 56-43, at intermission.

Cleveland 101, Minnesota 88 -- Two nights after an achy right knee sidelined him, LeBron James returned with 31 points, 12 rebounds and six assists at Minneapolis.

Kevin Garnett had 22 points and 12 rebounds and was the only starter in double figures for the Timberwolves.

Dallas 97, Sacramento 93 -- Playing without Dirk Nowitzki (food poisoning), the Mavericks overcame a one-point deficit by scoring the first eight points of the fourth quarter at Sacramento.

Josh Howard scored 29 points and Jason Terry added 27 for Dallas. Ron Artest had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Sacramento.

Detroit 100, Indiana 85 -- The Pistons overcame a 14-point first-half deficit at Indianapolis to guarantee the Pacers their first losing season since 1996-97, the last time they missed the playoffs.

Tayshaun Prince scored 24 points for Detroit. Jermaine O’Neal had 20 points for Indiana, which fell two games behind Orlando for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Phoenix 116, Memphis 111 -- Amare Stoudemire scored 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help stave off a Grizzlies rally in the opener of a four-game trip.

Pau Gasol had 23 points for Memphis, which closed within one with 7:09 left before Stoudemire scored 11 straight points.

Charlotte 122, Washington 102 -- The Bobcats led by 18 at halftime and were never threatened in the second half at Charlotte, N.C., in the first of back-to-back games against the Wizards.

Gerald Wallace had 34 points for Charlotte. Gilbert Arenas scored 33 for the Wizards, who lost for the fifth time in their last seven games.

New Orleans 119, Milwaukee 101 -- The Hornets moved within 2 1/2 games of the idle Clippers for the final Western Conference playoff spot at Milwaukee. David West scored 24 points for New Orleans. Michael Redd had 27 points for Milwaukee.

San Antonio 110, Seattle 91 -- Bruce Bowen made a career-high tying six three-pointers and scored 18 points and the host Spurs had little trouble completing a sweep of their four-game season series against the SuperSonics.