MIAMI -- LeBron James watched from the bench in a stylish grey suit, and with the game deadlocked at halftime, he took off his necktie. Stephen Curry Shoes Online Store . Soon the tie on the scoreboard was gone, too. Stout defence plus Chris Boshs outside shooting and a boost from Miamis reserves helped the Heat overcome the absence of their MVP on Sunday to beat the Chicago Bulls 93-79. "We were missing a pretty big man," Dwyane Wade said. "Theres nothing we can do to replace the best player in the world, but we just had to go out there and play team basketball on both ends of the floor." James was a late scratch after he broke his nose in Thursdays win at Oklahoma City, and his teammates picked up the slack. Former NBA No. 1 draft pick Greg Oden replaced James for his first NBA start since December 2009, and reserves Chris Andersen, Michael Beasley and Ray Allen helped the Heat pull away in the second half. "You dont want to see guys out," said coach Erik Spoelstra, who earned his 300th career victory. "But when guys are out, Im always curious to see how you respond as a team. Weve have several of these games that could have been excuse games, but guys have stepped up." Bosh tied a career high with four 3-pointers and had 28 points and 10 rebounds. Wade added 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, while Mario Chalmers contributed 12 points and nine assists. Defence did the rest against the offensively challenged Bulls. "Were starting to put it together defensively," Bosh said. "We got off to a slow start early in the season, but I think right now were starting to get it, starting to click." Like the Heat, the Bulls were also short-handed, with starter Jimmy Butler a late scratch because of bruised ribs. They shot 36 per cent, went 6 for 21 from 3-point range and were called for a 24-second violation at least six times, including twice in a row. "We werent playing with a good enough thrust," guard Kirk Hinrich said. "We were slow getting into our stuff. We didnt make quick decisions, and we got stuck fighting the clock." Joakim Noah had 20 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks for the Bulls, who had won five in a row. "Those guys have ended our seasons a lot," Noah said. "Youve got to hate playing those guys, and every time we play them our intensity has to be high. We did it in spurts, it wasnt good the whole time, and thats whats disappointing." Miami, playing at home for the first time in 20 days, extended its winning streak to five games. Wade sealed the victory by sinking a jumper with less than three minutes left, giving the Heat their first 18-point lead. Earlier two of his points came on free throws after he improvised a backward somersault when fouled hard in the lane. Otherwise there werent a lot of acrobatics from the typically high-flying Heat, who shot 42 per cent and had only seven fast-break points. Contributing to the workmanlike effort was the 7-foot Oden, playing his 11th game after being sidelined by knee trouble for 3 1/2 years. He had five points and five rebounds in 13 minutes. "Greg was great," Spoelstra said. "Hes an active player for somebody that big, and hes very intelligent. He has a good grasp of what we want to do." The stoic Oden shrugged off the milestone of returning to the starting lineup. "Im starting to feel a little more comfortable out there, and I think guys are starting to feel more comfortable with me," he said. "Its something we can build on. Being able to put me in that starting lineup showed some confidence in me." James, missing a game for only the second time this season, drew a big ovation when he was shown on the video scoreboard during an early timeout. During another timeout in the fourth quarter, when the Heat had built a big cushion, he danced to music blaring over the public address system while his teammates huddled. They scored on seven consecutive possessions during a 16-2 run at the end of the third quarter that put them ahead 65-52. The catalysts were unlikely: In quick succession, Andersen dunked on an alley-oop, Allen hit a runner and Beasley banked home a basket. "It doesnt matter if LeBrons out," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Theyre a good team. That team has other players. Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade -- those are All-Stars, too. The bench is deep. Thats a championship team." NOTES: Spoelstra earned his 300th victory in his 448th game. Only five coaches reached the milestone more quickly, including his boss, Pat Riley, who did it the fastest at 416 games. ... Wades seven offensive rebounds were a career high. ... The Bulls fell to 24-6 when leading after one quarter. ... Miami improved to 8-1 in February. Steph Curry Shoes Discount . Weise left the arena with a splint on his wrist and underwent tests to determine whether the tendon is torn. Winger Travis Moen will also miss some time after suffering a concussion in Mondays contest. Curry Shoes For Sale Cheap . CHAUNCEY BILLUPS (Pistons): Yes they got Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings in the off-season and Andre Drummond is a beast (teams are kicking themselves for passing on him - he rebounds and block shots every game - thats two more discernable and significant skills than most guys in his draft class), but dont for a second discount the impact of having a savvy veteran like Billups on your team. http://www.cheapcurryshoes.net/ . The Goldeyes (10-7) lost 4-1 to the Saltdogs (8-9) Sunday afternoon before 5,834 sizzling fans at Shaw Park. The loss drops Winnipegs record to 3-4 during this past weeks seven-game homestand.BOSTON -- Will Middlebrooks reaction running down the first-base line might have summed up how his teammates were feeling when the Boston Red Sox finally got back to .500. The slumping Middlebrooks pumped his fist a few times after hitting an RBI single with the bases loaded, capping a two-run rally in the eighth inning that sent the Red Sox over the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 Wednesday night for a sweep of the two-game interleague series. "I just wanted to help the team win and to contribute," Middlebrooks said. Mired in a 2-for-19 stretch and coming off an 0-for-5 night with a pair of strikeouts, Middlebrooks sent a hard grounder up the middle for the go-ahead run. "Ive been frustrated, but regardless if youre 10-for-10 or 0-for-10 or whatever, youre happy to contribute to a win in any way possible," he said. David Ortiz and Mike Napoli also drove in runs for the World Series champions, who reached .500 for the first time since the fourth game of the season. They failed in eight previous chances. "I dont think it was a mental hurdle," Boston manager John Farrell said. "I never heard too many of us mention that were bumping up against .500 and taking a step back. It was just more of a situation inside games where we had opportunities that we havent cashed in on, finally we do tonight." Skip Schumaker hit a two-run homer for Cincinnati, who lost the opener to Boston 4-3 in 12 innings. It was the Reds 11th one-run loss, most in the majors. "We play a lot of low scoring, one-run games," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "Were battling and well be whole soon, but until then weve got to find a way to create some distance between ourselves and our opponent. Itll come down to making every single play over the course of those last three innings to win the game, and it cant be like that every single day of a baseball season." Trailing 3-2 in the eighth, the Red Sox scored against two relievers. "Its tough," Reds left fielder Chris Heisey said. "We felt like we had the game and let it slip away." Napoli drew a one-out walk from Manny Parra, J.J. Hoover (1-4) walked pinch-hitter Jonny Gomes and A.J. Pierzynskis ground-rule double tied it at 3. Jackie Bradley Jr. was intentionally walked before Middlebrooks had his tiebreaking hit. Craig&nnbsp;Breslow (2-0), who also got the win in Tuesdays game, pitched one hitless inning. Cheap Curry Shoes. Koji Uehara struck out the final three batters for his eighth save. Cincinnati starter Mike Leake pitched seven strong innings and was in line for the win before Boston rallied. He gave up two runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out four. Bostons Jake Peavy allowed three or fewer runs for the sixth time in seven starts, giving up three runs on four hits with four walks and five strikeouts. The Reds took a 3-2 lead in the seventh when Roger Bernadina bounced a slow groundout to second against reliever Chris Capuano with the bases loaded. In the bottom half, Heisey made a nice inning-ending running catch on Shane Victorinos liner into the gap with the tying run on second. Boston tied it with a pair of runs in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Ortiz and RBI double by Napoli. It could have been worse for Leake, but Grady Sizemore bounced to second with runners on second and third and, after an intentional walk, Bradley Jr. hit an inning-ending grounder. Schumaker, who came off the 15-day disabled list on Saturday after being sidelined since spring training with a dislocated left shoulder, homered in the third after Heisey had a leadoff double. The teams bounced into a combined five double plays, with the Red Sox turning three. NOTES: Farrell didnt start SS Xander Bogaerts to "get another left-handed bat in the lineup." Switch-hitter Jonathan Herrera took his spot and batted ninth. Bogaerts came in as a defensive replacement in the ninth. ... Leake had given up eight hits and four runs over seven innings in each of his last two starts. ... Reds RHP Alfredo Simon turned 33 Wednesday. ... The Reds are off until Friday, when they open a six-game homestand against Colorado with RHP Johnny Cueto (3-2, 1.31 ERA) going against RHP Jhoulys Chacin (0-1, 7.20). After Peavy, Chacin is the second of four straight starting pitchers the Reds are scheduled to face with the first letter of their first name starting with the letter "J." The Rockies will are also slated pitch RHP Jordan Lyles and Juan Nicasio. ... Boston is also off Thursday before opening a six-game road trip in Texas when RHP Clay Buchholz (2-2, 5.63) faces Yu Darvish (2-1, 2.87). ' ' '