By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer

MIAMI (AP) -- LeBron James took a hard foul and clearly was not
happy. So the next time he saw the ball, he made sure no Toronto
player could reach him.



James' steal and dunk with just more than two minutes left gave
Miami some breathing room, and the Heat held on to defeat the
Toronto Raptors 95-89 on Sunday. James finished with 30 points
and Dwyane Wade added 25 for the Heat (18-6), who won for the
10th time in its last 12 games and moved within one game of
Chicago (20-6) for the best record in the Eastern Conference.



"We stuck with our principles," James said. "And that's to
defend."



Chris Bosh scored 12 points against his former team, which saw a
15-point edge trimmed to three in the final minutes but never
surrendered the lead. Mario Chalmers added 11 for Miami.



DeMar DeRozan scored 25 for the Raptors, who got 17 apiece from
Jerryd Bayless and Linas Kleiza.



"I liked our disposition," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "I
liked the way we approached it. I liked the way we competed."



Kleiza's 3-pointer with just under five minutes left got Toronto
within eight, and another 3 from Bayless as the shot clock
expired on the next Raptors' possession cut the Miami lead to
85-80 - the closest the game had been since early in the third
quarter.



Bayless scored again to get the Raptors within three and cap a
12-0 Toronto run. And after Bosh missed a fadeaway from the
right baseline, Bayless tried a 3-pointer to tie. It bounced
off, and with the game in the balance, James went to work.



He was fouled by James Johnson and made two free throws with
2:20 left, not before letting anyone around him know he wasn't
pleased with the physicality of the play. The next time James
touched the ball, he didn't give the Raptors a chance to foul
him - his steal and two-handed slam with 2:07 left gave Miami an
89-82 edge and all but ensured the win.



"Good back-to-back plays for our team and I was happy I was able
to make them," James said.



James - who leads the NBA in first-quarter scoring this season
(9.1 points a game) - got off to another big start, making his
first five shots and scoring 12 points in the opening quarter.
He's now shooting just under 60 percent in first quarters this
season.



While scoring wasn't an issue, the Heat were far from in the
clear.



Casey told the Raptors that establishing pace and limiting
turnovers - especially early - would be big keys. Seemed like
his team got the message: The Raptors matched a season-high with
27 points in the first quarter, and turned the ball over only
five times in the first half. That, combined with DeRozan tying
his season best with 16 points in the opening two quarters, kept
the Raptors close.



"It just shows that we can compete with anybody," DeRozan said.



Miami's lead was only 53-48 at the break, and that was even
after James and Wade combined to score 22 points in the opening
quarter on 8 for 9 shooting.



"We knew it was going to be one of those grind-out kind of
games," Wade said. "We understand that a lot of teams do that
when they play the Heat - come out on fire."



In the third quarter, the Heat finally took control - not
surprisingly, when the defense picked up a notch.



Toronto missed all but one of its shots over a seven-minute
stretch of the third, a span where Miami started with a 55-54
lead and increased it 73-57. Chalmers hit back-to-back
3-pointers late in the 18-3 run, James made a fadeaway with 3:27
to play in the period to close the flurry.



"Our energy was good," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Even
throughout the game, I didn't have a problem with the energy.
... It was more of a real concentration and a discipline toward
the end of the (shot) clock. And that's something we'll have to
continue to get better at."



And, just as Casey feared, turnovers proved decisive. Toronto
committed eight in the third, which Miami turned into nine
points. Miami gave the ball away only twice in the third, and
the Raptors didn't score on either.



"Next time we've got to come out and make the plays and close,"
Bayless said.



Notes: It was the second straight year Miami played at home on
Super Bowl Sunday. The Heat beat the Clippers last year in a
game that started at noon and with James half-seriously asking
officials to speed things along. ... Miami has beaten the
Raptors six straight times. ... It was Raptors C Jamaal
Magloire's first time visiting Miami as an opponent since March
2008. The Toronto native had spent the past three seasons with
the Heat and remains close to several former teammates. "He was
about as pure as anybody we have ever had as a role player,"
Spoelstra said.