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The Heat ended a five-game slump and clinched a playoff berth in the process.
MIAMI — The first chore for the Miami Heat is done: They’re in the playoffs.
That’s no surprise.
Snapping a five-game slide by beating the NBA’s hottest team to get there, well, that might not have been what everyone saw coming.
Chris Bosh scored 24 points, Dwyane Wade added eight of his 20 in the fourth quarter and the Heat ended their losing streak by beating the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers 94-88 on Thursday night, the earliest Miami has secured a postseason bid in franchise history.
LeBron James finished with 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Heat, and Mike Miller scored 12 for Miami.
Kobe Bryant scored 24 points for the Lakers, whose eight-game winning streak was snapped. Pau Gasol added 20 and Andrew Bynum finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for Los Angeles.
There were so many subplots surrounding this game — the winning streak, the losing streak, Miami’s frustration levels, and so on — that it didn’t need more drama.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson provided some before tipoff anyway.
Jackson — who’s shown a flair for poking the Heat more than once this season — said before the game that he doesn’t like how Miami plays, even likening its style to an Xbox video game.
“I’m not a big fan of the style that Miami plays,” Jackson said.
He might like it less now, after the Heat finished off a season sweep of the defending champions.