LOS ANGELES, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Lakers had the bigger comeback, but the Miami Heat had the last one.
After blowing a 24-point lead, the Heat scored the final 12 points of the game and rallied for a 102-96 victory over the Lakers, who clearly missed Shaquille O'Neal.
Alonzo Mourning had 28 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who ended their NBA record streak of 35 games without scoring 100 points. But it did not happen without a late surge that allowed Miami to avoid another embarrassing loss.
A layup by Kobe Bryant, who scored 29 points, gave the Lakers a 96-90 lead with 2:58 remaining. But Los Angeles did not score again as Bryant and Robert Horry made a handful of poor plays down the stretch.
Rod Strickland and Eddie Jones made shots around an offensive foul by Bryant. Horry missed a 3-pointer and Mourning's jumper tied it with 1:39 remaining.
Bryant forced a jumper and Horry fouled Jimmy Jackson, whose two free throws with 1:23 left gave Miami the lead for good.
Horry committed an offensive foul and Bryant misfired on another 3-pointer before Horry fouled Strickland, who hit two from the line for a 100-96 advantage with 18 seconds left. Bryant missed another 3-pointer, Horry committed another foul and Jackson hit two foul shots to seal it.
Jackson scored 19 points and Strickland added 14 for the Heat, who improved to 2-1 on their five-game road trip and won at the Staples Center for the second straight season.
Bryant scored 29 points on 12-of-30 shooting. He was coming off a career-high 56 points against Memphis on Monday but could not compensate for the 7-2 superstar center's absence in this one.
O'Neal served the second of his three-game ban for fighting in a game at Chicago on Saturday. The Lakers have dropped three of four and fell one game behind first-place Sacramento in the Pacific Division.
