Basketball: Heat beat Pistons

The Miami Heat withstood a fourth-quarter barrage to beat the Detroit Pistons 98-83 yesterday and take a 2-1 lead in the NBA's Eastern Conference basketball finals.

Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal teamed up for 62 points as the Heat made headway early on but saw their lead whittled down to a single point as the Pistons started to fire in the closing stages in Miami.

But in the end the Pistons simply had no answer to Wade (35 points) and O'Neal (27 points and 12 rebounds), who combined for 24-of-32 from the floor.