Miami 108, New Jersey 94

LeBron James scored 31 points and the Miami Heat tightened their hold on the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 108-94 win over the New Jersey Nets on Sunday night.

Miami (54-23) moved within 2½ games of idle Chicago for first place and one-half game ahead of third-place Boston, which defeated Detroit on Sunday. The Heat, who had six players in double figures, have won three in a row since losing to Cleveland on Wednesday.

Deron Williams' 18 points and 12 assists led the Nets (23-53), who have lost six in a row and 10 of 11. Travis Outlaw scored 17 points while Brook Lopez had 16.

Dwayne Wade scored 18 points while Chris Bosh added 16 for Miami. Zydrunas Ilgauskas chipped in 11 points, and Erick Dampier and James Jones had 10 apiece.

The Heat dominated the first quarter as James scored 15. Miami's lead reached 21 points, 41-20, early in the second. James ended the half with 21 points and Miami led 58-44 at halftime.

New Jersey cut the margin under 10 points several times in the third quarter and trailed 83-77 with 7:44 to play in the game. Miami went on an 11-2 run to regain  command at 94-79 with 3:57 remaining.

• New Jersey will play their next game at home against Minnesota. The Nets have a W/L % of .391 after a win and .264 after a loss.
• Miami will play their next game at home against Milwaukee. The Heat have a W/L % of .774 after a win and .542 after a loss.