Like a good teammate, Dwyane Wade swooped in for the saving tip, preserving the lead and keeping the Heat’s amazing win streak rolling.

James scored 27 points and the Heat became the fourth team to win at least 20 consecutive games in a season, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 98-94 on Wednesday night.

Against a struggling Sixers team that was revved up like a playoff game, the Heat just found a way to win.

And when it was done, they took the time to admire their mark.

“Twenty is special,” Wade said. “Win 20 games in a row, it’s awesome. You can’t get around it. We’re going to try to go for the next one.”

Wade scored 21 as the Heat needed big baskets in the final 2 minutes to top the Sixers for the milestone win. He stuck with the ball on James’ misses and scored the clutch tip that made it a three-point lead with 29 seconds left and squashed the Sixers’ upset bid.

“It shows you he, like many of our guys, are just willing to make winning plays at the end,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Only three teams have won at least 20 consecutive games in the same season: the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33), the 2007-08 Houston Rockets (22) and the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20). The Washington Capitols also won 20 straight, spanning the end of the 1947-48 season and the start of the 1948-49 campaign.

James and the Heat have started to acknowledge just how special this winning streak is in a season that has them running away with the Eastern Conference.

They opened a five-game road trip as 8½-point favorites over the slumping Sixers, a team they’ve defeated three times during the streak. They beat Atlanta on Tuesday for streak win No. 19, then made the flight to Philadelphia that put them in just before dawn.

“You get sleep when you can and do your job,” center Chris Bosh said.

Maybe fatigue played a bit of a role in Miami’s inability to truly put away the Sixers. Led by Thaddeus Young, the Sixers opened the third quarter on a 16-8 run that helped slice the lead to four. Miami led 71-66 at the end of the quarter.

The Sixers hung around in the fourth, too. Dorell Wright hit a 3-pointer to make it a six-point game and he followed with a steal and fast-break dunk to cut it 82-78. Sixers fans coming to see a slice of history were suddenly rooting for history denied. Philadelphia’s fans started going wild to the “make some noise” sign on the video board and started singing the catchy anthem, “1-2-3-4-5-Sixers!”

Jrue Holiday brought them back with a 3-pointer for an 83-82 lead with 5:26 left and had fans chanting, “Beat the Heat!”

Ray Allen silenced them with a big 3 in front of the Sixers’ bench for an 89-86 lead. Bosh scored to make it 91-89.

It wasn’t enough, at least not yet. Holiday, the All-Star point guard, showed no fear of the moment when he dunked on a leaping James for the tying bucket.

James came right back made one of two free throws for a 92-91 lead. Holiday dribbled the ball into Bosh’s leg, then off his own foot, leading to Wade’s tip after James missed twice at the rim. James drove from beyond the arc and missed from the right side, he put up his own rebound off the back of the rim, and Wade slid in underneath two Sixers defenders for the bucket.

“I miss two gimmes and D-Wade was able to tip ’em home,” James said. “It was just great of him not giving up on the play and putting us up.”

The Heat escaped with a scare — and No. 20.

“When you have a streak like this, you have to have some luck,” James said.

Unless they wear down, there’s no reason to think the Heat can’t keep the streak going toward 33. The rest of the road trip includes games at Milwaukee, Toronto, Boston and Cleveland.

“We just think about winning the next game and we’ll see where it takes us,” James said.

Young had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Sixers. Holiday had 21 points and Evan Turner scored 15.

“At the end, we just couldn’t come up with that one rebound,” coach Doug Collins said. “I thought we executed, got some shots at the end, and just couldn’t quite find a way to get over the top.”

Fans in Heat jerseys dotted the arena and dozens packed the baseline three rows deep snapping pictures of Miami’s pregame drills. James wowed them with some around-the-back reverses that served as a sneak peek for what was ahead.

James, the reigning MVP, turned the second quarter into his own dunk contest. It helped that he didn’t have any competition.

With flair, James threw down thunderous dunks about every time he touched the ball. His best came on a reverse he brought between the legs that had the sellout crowd of 20,398 “Oooohhhh!” in amazement. His dunk capped a 17-2 run that put the Heat up 10 and helped them cruise toward a 51-39 halftime lead.

But the first half wasn’t all about James’ dazzling dunks. The Heat had 14 assists on 19 baskets and Shane Battier came off the bench to hit a pair of lead-stretching 3-pointers. It’s the kind of teamwork that has the Heat rolling.

“You have to have a unique group that are willing to sacrifice, a unique group willing to keep perspective of what we’re playing for and not get caught up in all the noise outside,” Spoelstra said. “There are so many distractions, not only in this league, but everyday life.”

Spoelstra could talk to Heat president Pat Riley on how to handle the distractions that come with a record winning streak. Riley played for the Lakers team that won 33 straight games. But while the two talk daily, Spoelstra said Miami’s streak hasn’t been discussed. Not once.

Thanks to a fantastic finish, they’ll have another day to bring it up.

Game notes
New Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly had a lengthy chat outside the locker room with Spoelstra before the game. Kelly had previously made a pregame visit with Collins. … The Heat have beat the 76ers 14 straight times. … The Heat missed 15-of-20 3-pointers.

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“I sure didn’t see this effort coming,” Collins said to open his extremely candid postgame news conference. “I thought we played incredibly hard against Miami. I thought we played incredibly hard in New York on Sunday. And this is mind-numbing to me. We went up 29-20, and from that point on, I couldn’t even tell you what occurred.”

The Sixers struggled mightily down the stretch in Tuesday’s 98-84 loss, their sixth consecutive defeat. A trendy preseason pick to contend for the Atlantic Division title, Philadelphia (22-33) fell a season-high 11 games below .500.

“I’m disappointed, I really am,” he said. “There was so much this season that we were looking forward to. But it just seems like every time we turn around, it’s been something else.”

Philadelphia has lost all four of its games since the All-Star break, but Collins would not comment on whether or not his players had become “comfortable” losing.

“I told you, I did not think our guys prepared themselves during the break to come back to play,” he said.

Collins also acknowledged reaching out to his players in an attempt to “be a better leader.” But the 61-year-old Collins also emphasized that his players need to commit to improvement.

“Sometimes you’ve got to help yourself,” he said. “Youth is a very blaming thing. … I usually go to them. And after a while, the talk gets old. It just does — at some point in time, you’ve just got to play.

“They say it’s a players’ league. Well then take ownership. That’s all I’m asking — take ownership of what you’re putting out there.”

Collins cited Andrew Bynum’s health on several occasions during his 11-minute conference. But Collins did not use Bynum’s season-long absence as a reason for his team’s lack of preparation or effort.

“We are a team that the least, little change affects us,” he said. “All of the sudden the starting lineup changes again — we have guys that don’t deal well with that. We’re not a team that rolls with it that easily.

“I don’t want you to feel like I’m up here blaming. I don’t want you to think I’m making excuses. That’s not what this is about. … I’m a guy who when I have coached, I’ve always been able to find some answers. And I have not been able to find answers, and from my standpoint that is very disappointing, because I’m paid to do that.”

A four-time All-Star during his eight-year career as a guard for the Sixers, Collins has compiled a 98-105 record in his two-plus seasons as Philadelphia’s coach.

“I wish I knew [why we’re struggling],” Collins said. “I really do. I’m sitting there — I gave my body to this franchise. I was never booed as a player, never. I ran through my sneakers. … There cannot be a game where you just go out and don’t put your heart and soul into the game. We had an off-day, we’ve been on the All-Star break — there’s no reason for that, none.”

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Russell Westbrook scored 27 points, Kevin Durant added 26 and the Thunder beat the Philadelphia 76ers 109-85 on Friday night before heading out to play 11 of their next 13 games on the road.

Oklahoma City made eight of its first 10 3-point attempts in the second half and never trailed after scoring the final five points before halftime.

The Thunder had lost 110-93 to Brooklyn on Wednesday night, but were able to avoid posting back-to-back losses at home for the first time since dropping two of the first three games of the 2010-11 season.

“We’ve got to take advantage of our fans and take advantage of home court,” Westbrook said.

Oklahoma City went 23 for 36 from the field, connecting at a sizzling 64 percent clip, while outscoring Philadelphia 63-43 in the second half.

“Our defense was really solid the whole night. The offense was a little slow, and coach told us going into the second half that we could score points so quickly, we just have to stick with our defense. That’s what we did,” Durant said.

“All we needed was to see a few shots go down.”

Serge Ibaka chipped in 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Kevin Martin had 16 points off the bench for the Thunder.

Nick Young hit five 3-pointers and led Philadelphia with 21 points. He also attempted the Sixers’ only eight free throws of the game, making six. Oklahoma City went 21 for 27.

“We’ve got to be stronger, take that ball to the basket and make them foul us,” Philly coach Doug Collins said. “For one guy to shoot a free throw tonight, I’m not saying anything that that has anything to do with the whistle. So, I don’t want that to be miscalculated at all.”

Jrue Holiday had 15 points and nine assists, Dorell Wright contributed 11 points and Thaddeus Young scored 10 for Philadelphia. Spencer Hawes pulled down 13 rebounds. The Sixers fell to 2-5 on their eight-game road trip, which started before Christmas and concludes Saturday night at San Antonio.

The schedule soon flips for both teams. Philadelphia will play 13 of 15 games at home after facing the Spurs. Oklahoma City will try to maintain one of the league’s best records while heading East, then on a pair of West Coast swings with brief stops at home in between.

“It’s a good test for us to see where we’re at. The road is always tough, no matter who you’re playing,” Durant said. “We’ve got to come out there and try to do a good job. We’re looking forward to it.”

The Thunder opened their first double-digit lead shortly after coach Scott Brooks came walking out on to the court to call timeout, screaming, “Let’s Go!” at his players after Westbrook had turned the ball over by driving into the back of teammate Kendrick Perkins shortly after halftime.

Neither player made an attempt to run to the opposite end of the court, and Jason Richardson threw down a two-handed slam off Holiday’s alley-oop.

Durant came out of the timeout and immediately drove into the lane, kicking the ball out to Thabo Sefolosha for a 3-pointer, and then drilled a 3 on the next trip down for a 56-46 advantage. Richardson answered with a 3-pointer, a layup and a runner for the Sixers before Westbrook scored six points during an 8-0 burst that pushed the lead to 69-57 for Oklahoma City with 3:50 left in the third quarter.

The Thunder salted it away with a 16-3 run late in the fourth quarter, as both teams started filtering reserves onto the court.

“They’ll hit you with a surge, and that’s what they did,” Collins said.

After a tight first half that featured 14 lead changes, Oklahoma City scored the final five points of the first half to take a 46-42 lead and stayed in front the rest of the way.

“They kept making shots,” Philadelphia’s Evan Turner said. “They tried to counter off our turnovers and they got to running. The first half, we slowed the game down and didn’t allow them to run.”

Game notes

Before the game, Collins offered his analysis of the Thunder’s offseason deal that sent Sixth Man of the Year James Harden to Houston for Martin. “I think where you’re going to see the value of James Harden is come playoff time. That’s when,” Collins said. “Because James Harden in so many instances, was their point guard and Westbrook scored and Durant. I think that’s when you’ll really see because in the playoffs, you need as many playmakers as possible. Kevin Martin can really score that ball but he plays off other guys. I think people don’t realize James Harden also last year made more free throws in the fourth quarter than anybody in the NBA.” … Country star Vince Gill watched the game from a courtside seat along the baseline. … Oklahoma City has played 20 of its first 32 games at home, going 17-3 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

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