Heat stretch winning streak to 26

MIAMI— LeBron James finished with 32 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds as the Miami Heat won their 26th straight game, cruising to a 109-77 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Some of the world’s best athletes were courtside Sunday. Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked men’s tennis player. Wladimir Klitschko, the world heavyweight boxing king. Rory McIlroy, who sits atop the golf rankings for at least one more night.

And James responded with another sterling performance, making 11 of 14 shots while helping Miami move within seven wins of matching the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers for the league record of 33 in a row.

Norris Cole scored 15 and Ray Allen added 14 for the Heat, which played without Dwyane Wade, held from the lineup because of right knee soreness.

After overcoming yet another slow start, Miami begins a fourgame road trip in Orlando on Monday, a swing that will also take the Heat to Chicago, New Orleans and San Antonio.

James departed with about 8 minutes left, after perhaps the highlight of the night. Chris Andersen blocked a layup attempt by Kemba Walker, doing so with such force that the ball caromed right back into play and basically started a Miami fast break on its own. James capped the sequence with a spectacular dunk, his final points of the night.

By then, the only order of business was for some fans to sing “Happy Birthday” to Chris Bosh. He turned 29 Sunday.