LeBron James scored 30 points to help the Miami Heat, who are leading in the Eastern Conference, top the Utah Jazz 105-89 on Saturday night.
Dwyane Wade had 21 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, whereas Shane Battier added 15 points and had one steal. Ray Allen contributed with 13 points, two steals and had four of five attempts from the field for Miami.
The Heat had a wonderful start in the second half, with a 22-6 run to lead 69-49.
''We look like a Miami Heat basketball team,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
For the Jazz, top scorer Marvin Williams finished with 16 points and had seven out of 12 attempts from the floor. He also shot two 3-pointers. Gordon Hayward scored 15 points, whereas Paul Millsap had 11.
The Jazz were outscored by the Heat 25-28 in the first quarter. In the second, their offense failed to deliver again and they had only 18 against the Miami's 19.
The Heat entered the second half with a four-point lead and without their star player, Chris Bosh. Mo Williams could not play in the second half for the Jazz due to thumb injury; Williams will have an MRI on Sunday.
James equaled Karl Malone's record of 24 consecutive games with 20 or more points. Malone achieved this glory in 1989-90 for Utah.
''Karl Malone's a great player,'' The Associated Press quoted James as saying before the game. ''Awesome player, by the way.''
James has now played six games without any personal foul. The last time he had a foul was on Dec. 8 against New Orleans and he has played 250 minutes and four seconds after that.
''I'd be concerned if he was just standing around, if he was hiding and taking himself out of plays and taking mini-vacations on possessions,'' Spoelstra said. ''But he's been activating our defense. And when you have his type of athletic, God-given ability and you add that to his mind and then the preparation, he can be one or two steps ahead of the play - which allows him to be a playmaker defensively.''
James considers no-foul streak the most satisfying while playing basketball.
''That means I'm putting myself in the right position and I'm not getting out of position,'' he said. ''Just trying to be there before plays actually happen. That means I'm helping my teammates out on offense and defense.''
Miami started the second half with James' jumper and Battier's shot from the 3-point arc. Battier soon hit another 3-pointer to help Miami led 55-43. Soon the Heat were leading by 20 points.
But the Jazz cut the lead to 73-63 at the end of the third quarter. The Heat's lead was reduced to only eight after a free throw by Millsap, with 4:40 remaining.
After Millsap's free throw, the lead further reduced to eight points with 4.40 left in the third quarter.
James' layup extended the Heat's lead to 12 points with 3.55 remaining.
Miami again outscored the Jazz in the fourth quarter 32-26 to beat Utah by 16 points.
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