James drops in 38, Heat overcomes Knicks

The Heat shrugged off an early 13-point deficit and built an 85-70 cushion with 8 minutes 51 seconds left. Smith kept firing, though, but James and Bosh got into the act to seal the outcome

LeBron James scored 38 points and Mario Chalmers added 15 as the Miami Heat survived a 3-point barrage from New York's J.R. Smith on the way to dealing the Knicks' playoff hopes a big blow with a 102-91 victory on Sunday

LeBron James dropped in 38 points and the Miami Heat withstood J.R. Smith’s record-setting 3-point barrage to send the visiting New York Knicks a step closer to playoff elimination, 102-91 on Sunday.

The streaky Smith finished with a season-high-tying 32 points, hitting a franchise-best 10 triples on a league-record 22 attempts, breaking the mark for tries owned by Portland’s Damon Stoudamire on April 15, 2005.

Mario Chalmers scored 15 points while Chris Bosh added 14 as Miami (53-23) moved a full game ahead of Indiana for the top playoff seed in the East, after the Pacers were pounded by the visiting Atlanta Hawks 107-88.

Ray Felton netted 14 points but league No. 2 scorer Carmelo Anthony, hampered by a right shoulder strain, finished with just 13 on 4-of-17 shooting as the Knicks (33-45) dropped two games behind the Hawks for the East eighth and final playoff spot with a handful remaining.