MIAMI -- LeBron James set the tone pregame. Dwyane Wade took over in the fourth quarter. And the Miami Heat got a win they desperately wanted. Wade scored 13 of his 22 points in the final period and led a critical 12-0 run down the stretch, James led all scorers with 23 points and the Heat clinched a playoff spot by beating the Washington Wizards 99-90 on Monday night to snap a three-game losing streak. "We needed a win," Wade said. "We needed this win." Chris Bosh scored 22 for the Heat (44-17), who moved within one game of Indiana (46-17) in the race for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and 1 1/2 games behind San Antonio (46-16) for the leagues best record. Ray Allen added 13 for Miami, which was coming off a trip where it lost at Houston, San Antonio and Chicago, the last of those coming in a late collapse on Sunday. Wade hasnt typically played back-to-backs this season. He did this time, and the Heat simply rolled with him in the final minutes on the way to avoiding what would have been their first four-game slide since 2011. "He made the right plays," James said. Bradley Beal scored 18 points, Martell Webster added 17 and Drew Gooden scored 15 for the Wizards. Marcin Gortat finished with 14 points and a career-high-tying 18 rebounds -- 10 of them in the first quarter alone. John Wall finished with eight assists for Washington. "Im proud of our guys," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "They kept battling, working. We didnt shoot it the way were capable of. We got some good looks. We shared the ball. We attacked the whole game." Washington led 84-83 midway through the fourth, when Wade took over. A three-point play put Miami ahead to stay and he then had assists on Miamis next three baskets -- a short jumper and then a 3-pointer from Bosh, then a layup by James. Wade capped the run with a score of his own, on the way to his first 13-point, three-assist fourth quarter since Feb. 18, 2009. His 13 in the fourth marked his highest-scoring quarter this season, and came with him playing consecutive days for the first time since Jan. 4 and 5. It was only the third time all season hes appeared in both nights of a back-to-back. Both teams shot only nine free throws; despite being in attack mode, James didnt shoot one for the second straight game, just the second time thats happened in his career, the first coming in December 2003, early in his rookie season. "Very surprised," James said. James went scoreless for a stretch of nearly 15 minutes in the first half, and still easily led everyone with 19 points by intermission. The entirety of his first-half scoring came in two impressive spurts -- three 3-pointers in as many tries over a span of 2:43 early in the game, then 10 straight Heat points in a stretch of 3:23 late in the half. "I felt good about this game the minute, the second I saw LeBron come into the gym today," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We had an early walkthrough and he ran in the gym. Came up to every single person, player and coach and shook everybodys hand and said, Lets go. Lets get ready for this game. Thats what leaders do." Miamis lead was 12 early in the third before Washington went on a 10-0 run, with Gortat scoring the first eight and Trevor Bookers jumper getting the Wizards within 59-57. And after Miami rebuilt the lead to seven, Washington took off on another quick burst, this one enough to give the Wizards their first lead since 1-0. In less than 2 minutes, Washington outscored Miami 11-0, Webster scoring six in 25 seconds. He head-faked James in the air to start what became a four-point play, then had an alley-oop dunk off a Wall pass on the next possession as Washington took a 65-64 lead. "I think we match up with those guys perfect," Wall said. "We battle those guys." Allen had two 3s for the Heat late in the third, and it was 73-all entering the fourth. The Wizards scored only 17 points in the final 12 minutes. "We saw a few things," Wade said, "and we were able to take advantage." NOTES: Gortat had never grabbed more than nine rebounds in a quarter. Hes the 12th player with 10 boards in a quarter this season. ... Washington missed its first six shots, as Miami took a 10-1 lead. ... March 10 matches the second-earliest date for Miami clinching a playoff spot. The Heat did it on March 8 last season. ... Heat F Udonis Haslem made his 700th regular-season appearance. ... Washington outrebounded Miami 50-33. Kevin Byard Womens Jersey . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Jeffery Simmons Youth Jersey . -- LaMarcus Aldridge returned to the Trail Blazers lineup, happy to know that things didnt go awry without him. http://www.titansstoreonline.com/Black-99-Jurrell-Casey-Womens-Jersey/ . The best round belonged to Pat Perez. Tiger Woods didnt come close to claiming either Thursday in the Farmers Insurance Open, where the seven-time champion failed to break par in the opening round for first time in his career. A.J. Brown Titans Jersey . Bouchard went down to a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Svitolina in her opening match at the Sony Open on Friday. Bouchard got the rivalry going two years ago when she won the junior Wimbledon title over Svitolina. Steve McNair Womens Jersey . James Jones got his turn Sunday. And the lift he brought, combined with the expected playoff showings from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, have the Heat off and running in these playoffs. GERARDMER, France -- In a solo breakaway, Blel Kadri gave France its first stage winner at the Tour de France in the entree to the Vosges mountains on Saturday. Meanwhile, Vincent Nibali extended his lead over his biggest rivals except an important one: Two-time champion Alberto Contador. Over two minutes back, an attacking Contador duelled with Nibali to capture second place at the uphill finish of a rainy 161-kilometre (100-mile) ride from Tomblaine to Gerardmer La Mauselaine ski resort. Contador gained only seconds on Nibali, and was still 2 1/2 minutes behind him, but the threat was loud and clear. The overall standings changed after Stage 8, with mostly strong climbers at the top. Kadri, sensing his looming victory in the last kilometre, clasped hands in joy with a staffer of his AG2R Mondiale team, who was alongside him in a team car. He kissed his fingers to the crowd and smiled broadly at the line. "Today was my day, and Im really, really, really happy," he said after his maiden Tour stage win. "We work all year for good performances in this race. ... Today it paid off." Kadri emerged from a five-man breakaway that chiselled out a lead of as many as 11 minutes. None of the breakaway riders threatened Nibalis yellow jersey: The highest-placed among them started the stage nearly 26 1/2 minutes back. Contador attacked as he and Nibali passed under the red flag marking one kilometre to go. But the Italian couldnt be shaken -- hewing right on the Spaniards back wheel except for Contadors final surge at the line. "Im not explosive, but I held my own," Nibali said. "I tried to respond as best I could to his attack ... he moved a lot, I really wanted to stick close to him ... in the last 100 metres he accelerated a lot." The ride featured three mid-grade climbs in the first of three days in the mid-sized Vosges range near the German border. 90. Chrristian Meier of Langley, B.ddddddddddddC., was 90th, finishing in a peloton that clocked in at 4:7:19. Svein Tuft, also from Langley, was in the same group, finishing the stage 110th. Meier is 143rd in the overall standings, while Tuft is 146th. American Andrew Talansky had trouble and lost time in the title chase to other contenders. In the final ascent, he skidded off the wet road and fumbled -- with help from a fan -- to repair what seemed to be a problem with his bike. A race medical report said he had multiple contusions. Talansky, the Garmin-Sharp team leader, finished more than two minutes behind Nibali and Contador, and trailed the leader by 4 minutes, 22 seconds in 16th place overall. He started the ride in eighth, 2:05 down. Overall, Nibali led Astana teammate Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark in second by 1 minute, 44 seconds. Australias Richie Porte of Team Sky, who finished fourth on Saturday, was 1:58 back in third. Spains Alejandro Valverde was fifth, 2:27 adrift, and Contador was sixth, 2:34 behind. The breakaway five chiselled out their maximum lead with about 50 kilometres (30 miles) left, and the pack began to accelerate. With around 25 kilometres left, the lead dwindled to 4 1/2 minutes. Frances Sylvain Chavanel pressed the pace among the five in front, then Kadri overtook him, pedalling alone up the final climb. There were fewer crashes than in recent days. Before the stage, Swiss rider Mathias Frank, the leader of the IAM Cycling team, withdraw because of broken left femur in a crash on Friday. Frank, who was runner-up in the Tour de Suisse last month, underwent surgery in Geneva on Saturday. The toughest ride in the Vosges will come on Monday when cyclists face seven ascents, including an uphill finish to the storied ski resort La Planche des Belles Filles. The pack faces six ascents on Sunday with a 170-kilometre (106-mile) ride from Gerardmer to Mulhouse. ' ' '