MIAMI (AP) ― Standing at his locker after yet another victory, LeBron James finally acknowledged the obvious.

This winning streak is something for the Miami Heat to savor.

Dwyane Wade scored 23 points and on a night where the stat sheet would suggest a struggle, the Heat rolled once again, extending their winning streak to 19 games and leading wire-to-wire in beating the Atlanta Hawks 98-81 on Tuesday.

“Let’s be honest, guys,” James said. “We’re not sitting here and saying this is not something special. This is an unbelievable streak that we’re on. We’re playing great basketball. We’re winning in different phases of the game, we’re playing different styles, we’ve won every game, on the road, at home, double-overtime games, end-of-regulation games, whatever the case may be.”

James scored 15 points and Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers added 14 apiece for the Heat, who matched the fifth-longest streak in NBA history. They will try for their 20th straight win on Wednesday at Philadelphia, the start of a five-game trip.

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.

“Ten is enough for me,” Bosh said. “Twenty’s cool. I’d take it.”

Josh Smith scored 15 for the Hawks, who got 12 apiece from Al Horford and Jeff Teague.

“Miami is playing very well right now. You have to give credit where credit is due,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “Coach (Erik) Spoelstra and his staff over there are doing a great job. Their team is really moving the basketball, they are playing together, they are playing at a very, very high level right now, and they’re really good right now. We just got beat by a really good basketball team.”

That is, by a really good basketball team that had something really far removed from a really good offensive night.

The Heat shot only 43 percent and James was just 3 for 11 from the field, with the field-goal total matching his lowest from any regular-season game in more than three years.

Howard dominates in return

ORLANDO, Florida (AP) ― Dwight Howard endured the worst reception of his NBA career on Tuesday night.

He then promptly turned in probably his best performance of this season.

Howard scored a season-high 39 points, had 16 rebounds and was sent to the free-throw line 39 times by his former team as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic, 106-97.

The victory came in Howard’s first return to Orlando since his drama-filled offseason trade to the Lakers. He endured a chorus of boos throughout, and tied his own NBA record for free-throw attempts.

The majority of them came as the Magic tried to employ an intentional foul strategy. It backfired, though, as the All-Star center hit on 16-of-20 attempts in the second half. It silenced his detractors and more importantly, helped the Lakers secure their fourth straight victory and keep from slipping in their playoff chase.

His reception aside, Howard said he left the court still thankful for the support he got during his eight years in Orlando.

“I wasn’t nervous tonight. I was looking forward to playing here,” Howard said.

“It was a hostile environment, but I think that was something that was good for me. For my progress as a player, I think I needed that tonight.”

Jameer Nelson scored 21 points, but also had six of Orlando’s 14 turnovers. The Magic have lost three of their last four and haven’t won back-to-back games since December. They also missed on their first season sweep of the Lakers since 2008-09.

After a week of back-and-forth in the media following some perceived negative comments made about his former team during a television interview, Howard and Nelson spoke briefly just after the final buzzer and shook hands.

Charlotte 100, Boston 74

Cleveland 95, Washington 90

Brooklyn 108, New Orleans 98

Dallas 115, Milwaukee 108

Minnesota 107, San Antonio 83

Memphis 102, Portland 97