Whiteside leads Miami Heat to win over Celtics, Knicks too good for Lakers

HASSAN Whiteside sparked the Miami Heat over the Boston Celtics while Carmelo and the Knicks crushed the LA Lakers.

Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside (21) makes a pass between Boston Celtics' Brandon Bass and Marcus Smart (36) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015. Miami defeated Boston 83-75. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

HASSAN Whiteside scored 20 points while Chris Bosh added 18 to spark the Miami Heat over the Boston Celtics 83-75 to open a four-game road trip.

In the NBA’s other game on Sunday, Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points and grabbed eight rebounds to spark the New York Knicks in their 92-80 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Heat had lost 11 of their past 12 regular-season games at Boston but held off a second-half rally by the Celtics in improving to 21-26, seventh in the Eastern Conference.

Miami Heat guard Norris Cole (30) goes up for a shot against Boston Celtics' Evan Turner.

Miami’s Tyler Johnson came off the bench to score an NBA career-high 13 points and match Whiteside with a game-high nine rebounds.

Avery Bradley and Tyler Zeller each scored 17 points for the Celtics, while Marcus Smart passed off a career-high nine assists. But Boston suffered a fifth home defeat in a row, falling to 16-30, 3.5 games behind Charlotte for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

The Heat led 44-31 at half-time but the Celtics hit their first seven shots from the floor in the third quarter, pulling even at 55-55 before Miami pulled ahead 61-59 entering the fourth quarter and scored the first eight points of the final period.

New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony, right, drives past Los Angeles Lakers' Robert Sacre.

The Knicks improved to 10-38, matching Philadelphia for the second-worst record in the NBA ahead of Minnesota (8-39), while the Lakers stumbled to 13-35, second-worst in the Western Conference. Langston Galloway had 13 points while Lou Amundson grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for the Knicks.

Jordan Clarkson and reserve Carlos Boozer each scored 19 points to lead the Lakers, still reeling from the season-ending shoulder injury suffered by star guard Kobe Bryant. Boozer also grabbed 10 rebounds.

New York Knicks' Langston Galloway, left, fouls Los Angeles Lakers' Jeremy Lin.

It was the 11th loss in the Lakers’ past 12 road games. Los Angeles made only 5-of-20 shots from the floor in the first quarter, falling behind 32-19.

“We just got off to a bad start,” said Lakers coach Byron Scott. Anthony scored the Knicks’ last 12 points of the third quarter, pushing New York’s lead to 72-57 entering the fourth quarter.

Originally published as Whiteside leads Miami Heat to win over Celtics, Knicks too good for Lakers