PHILADELPHIA -- Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade was everywhere his team needed him to be during a crucial stretch of Friday night's game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Teammate Hassan Whiteside was, meanwhile, exactly where he was supposed to be, all night long.
Wade had 21 points and Whiteside added 19 points and 19 rebounds as Miami beat the short-handed 76ers 112-102 on Friday night, the Heat's fourth straight victory.
Goran Dragic collected 15 points and 11 assists for Miami (36-26), which has won 13 of 18 to assume the lead in the Southeast Division. Luol Deng had 13 points and nine rebounds.
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Miami also improved to 7-2 without Chris Bosh, out indefinitely with a blood clot in his calf.
"There was a lot of uncertainty with what our team's dealt with this year," Wade said.
The recent acquisition of former Brooklyn Net Joe Johnson has helped, Wade added.
"Guys come out of the All-Star break having to play without Chris really built the confidence in everyone and it's all come together," he said.
Ish Smith had 26 points and Robert Covington contributed 25 for the 76ers (8-54), who dropped their 11th straight. Philadelphia, the NBA's worst team, dressed only 10 players because of injuries to Jahlil Okafor (bruised right shin) and Nerlens Noel (bruised right knee), as well as the illnesses of Nik Stauskas and Kendall Marshall.
The 76ers reeled off 13 straight points to assume a 72-69 lead with 5:20 left in the third quarter, only to see Miami go on a 15-2 blitz. Wade had a fast-break dunk and a three-point play after an offensive rebound during that stretch, as well as a feed to Josh Richardson for a 3-pointer. Deng also contributed four points to the run.
"It's an NBA game," Wade said. "Guys are going to make shots. A comeback is going to happen. We've just got to be able to withstand it. In the third quarter they took the lead. But I thought we did a great job of next couple of possessions, getting it right back and taking the lead back."
That put the Heat up 84-74 in the final minute of the period. The 76ers sliced the deficit to five early in the fourth quarter, but Gerald Green salted the game away by notching all 12 of his points in the final 10:54, enabling the Heat to extend its lead to as many as 18.
Wade, who also had eight rebounds, four assists and three steals, did not play in the fourth quarter.
Whiteside most certainly did. The NBA's leading shot-blocker at 3.9 per game, continues to come off the bench. While he contributed just two blocks Friday, he was a looming presence on defense -- the 76ers shot just 37.9 percent from the floor -- while sweeping the glass.
"Going into the All-Star break, he came back a different person on the basketball floor," Wade said. "He's really focused on being dominant, night in and night out."
Especially against a team as poor as the 76ers.
"This team is a really good team," Whiteside said. "They really play hard. Their record might not say it because they let close games get away from them, but you can't just come in and disrespect them and think they'll just give you the game."
The Heat scored 20 of the game's first 24 points, eight of those by Amar'e Stoudemire, and were up 40-29 after a quarter, their highest-scoring quarter of the season.
By halftime, the Miami lead was 59-49. Wade had 12 points at that juncture, and Whiteside had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Covington and Smith had 15 each for Philadelphia.
The Heat was still up 10 early in the third quarter, 69-59, before the 76ers went on their 13-0 run to take a 72-69 lead. Hollis Thompson and Jerami Grant capped that surge with a 3-pointer and three-point play, respectively.
"I was proud of our guys," coach Brett Brown said. "We got hit hard early. ... With the personnel we had, after that start that we had, I thought that our guys fought."
NOTES: The 76ers signed C Christian Wood to a 10-day contract earlier in the day. Wood, a rookie, was playing for the Delaware 87ers, the club's NBA Development League affiliate. He began the season with the 76ers but was cut Jan. 4 to make room for F Elton Brand on the roster. Wood did not play Friday, however. ... Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said player development assistant Chris Babcock spent eight days in Turkey scouting F Dario Saric, who was acquired in a 2014 draft-day trade. Saric can opt out of his contract after this season and Brown said he has a "gut feel" that the young forward will be in Philadelphia in 2016-17. ... Brand made his season debut for the 76ers, contributing eight points and four rebounds in 13 minutes.
