Miami Heat forward LeBron James.

LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score at least 30 points and shoot 60 percent from the field over a six-game stretch after torching the Portland Trail Blazers 117-104 Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

James scored 18 of his 30 points in the first half and finished shooting 11 of 15, dished out nine assists and hauled in six rebounds to give the Miami Heat  their sixth consecutive win and eight straight at home.

Chris Bosh led the Heat with 32 points on 13-of-16 attempts and made all six free throws. He also grabbed 11 boards. Dwyane Wade scored 24 points and Ray Allen added 14 off the bench for Miami (35-14), which shot 58.1 percent in the game.

Damian Lillard finished with 33 points, four shy from his career best, LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 and Wesley Matthews recorded 20 for Portland (25-27), which has lost four straight on a six-game road test.

The Trail Blazers held a one-point lead midway through the fourth after falling behind by 14 in the third. Matthew’s three put Portland up 102-101 with 4:37 remaining.

Wade made a jumper, Allen hit from distance and Wade returned to convert two free throws to go up by six. Lillard tried to score on a driving layup, but was rejected by James that set up a three from Mario Chalmers on the other end. Bosh stole a pass from Nicolas Batum and James slammed in his 30th point on a lob from Allen off a fastbreak as the Heat ended on a 16-2 run.

Lillard, who also tallied 18 first-half points, made two free throws and Matthews scored on a layup and converted the foul to give the Trail Blazers a 95-90 lead in the fourth.

Wade scored under the basket after Allen had his layup blocked by Batum. Aldridge put the Trail Blazers back up by two with his own layup in the paint, but Bosh answered at the other end with a 17-foot jumper to knot the game at 97.

Wade’s crossover jumper put the Heat up by two, but Aldridge converted two free throws to tie the game at 99. James threw down a two-handed dunk, but Matthews responded with a three to give Portland a one-point edge for Miami  would erupt for the final margin.

Aldridge, who had 17 points in the first half, hit a jumper to put the Trail Blazers up 61-58 in the third.

Bosh and Wade made two free throws each and Bosh knocked in a jumper to lead by three. Shane Battier drilled two three-pointers and Bosh hit a pair of jumpers to stretch their lead to 81-67.

Batum, who ended with five points, scored his first two-points with 3:15 remaining in the third. He was 1-3 from the field through three quarters.

Aldridge made a jumper and Lillard scored seven of his nine third-quarter points in the final two minutes of the period. He hit a three at the top of the key to bring Portland within four.

Lillard’s layup gave Portland a 47-37 in the second.

Wade made two free throws, Bosh hit a jumper and James scored on a layup to come within six, but the Trail Blazers scored five straight points and Luke Babbitt hit a three to go up 57-43.

Portland missed its next four shots from the field and had just as many turnovers. Miami finished the the first half on a 15-2 run and James scored eight points on that stretch to come within 59-58.

Miami made its first seven shots as Bosh’s jumper piled on a 14-5 lead in the first.

Aldridge made 5-of-7 shots in the quarter and scored the final nine points for the Trail Blazers to lead 33-29.

The Trail Blazers will travel to New Orleans to take on the Hornets on Wednesday. Tipoff is at 5PM.

The Associated Press

Wesley Matthews knocked down back-to-back threes with seconds left in the fourth quarter to bring the Portland Trail Blazers back from a double-digit deficit and beat the Miami Heat 92-90 at the Rose Garden Thursday night.

Matthews scored 18 points and drilled two corner threes that gave Portland a 91-90 lead with 26 seconds left in the fourth after facing a 12-point hole. The Trail Blazers finished the game on a 10-5 run to extend their four game win streak and nine at home.

Nicolas Batum scored a team-high 28 points and seven rebounds and LaMarcus Aldridge, who hit a free throw to give Portland (20-15) a two-point cushion, finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Chris Bosh led Miami (23-11) with 29 points, LeBron James scored 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists and Dwyane Wade had 18 points.

The Heat held a 13-point lead  going into the third quarter, but Portland scored six points in the final 41 seconds, including a reverse layup from Ronnie Price that closed the gap 68-63.

A pair or free throws from Wade completed a 12-5 run to start the fourth as the Miami jumped back on top by 12 with 8:08 remaining.

The Trail Blazers responded with a 14-2 run and Batum intercepted a pass from Wade and scored on the fastbreak and foul to tie the game at 82 with 4:03 left.

Ray Allen’s three put the Heat back up by three with 3:43 remaining before the the Trail Blazers late spurt sealed the win.

Damian Lillard finished with 10 points and eight assist for Portland, which shot 29 percent from the field and 33 percent from three in the opening quarter, but  trail just 21-18.

The Trail Blazers will travel to Golden State (22-12) on Friday to compete in a back to back. Tipoff starts 7:30 PM.

Nobody said Tuesday’s Game 5 matchup between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers wouldn’t get physical. It got so chippy, in fact, that the refs had to throw out a flagrant foul to both teams. Indiana’s Tyler Hansbrough picked up an early flagrant 1 foul trying to defend a strong drive from Miami’s Dwyane Wade. Wade drove to the hoop and pulled down the ball (to avoid a clean block) at the last second, which allowed Hansbrough to play patty cake with Wade’s face.

But it didn’t stop there. No…not for the Heat’s Udonis Haslem. What’s a one-handed smack to the face when you can go all Avengers on Hansbrough with a two-armed hammer and only get called for a matching flagrant 1 call and not get ejected? Payback maybe? You be the judge. Who deserved the flagrant 2 foul?

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

LeBron James put on an MVP performance for the Miami Heat with 40 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists in Sunday’s Game 4 win to even the series with the Indiana Pacers at 2-2. Dwyane Wade also contributed big numbers with 30 points and nine rebounds to rebound back from a 2-1 series hole. With the Heat on a two game winning streak heading back to Miami to tip off action Tuesday, can the Pacers grab the 3-2 edge or will the Heat hold strong at home?

Nike wanted to showcase the epic journey the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat traveled to reach the 2011 NBA Finals. Contributed copy for voice-over script delivered by sportscaster Gus Johnson.

Watch Nike Basketball: Epic Video