LeBron James scored six of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as the visiting Miami Heat took a while to get going, but defeated the Detroit Pistons 100-94 on Wednesday.

Chris Bosh had seven of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and Dwyane Wade had 24 for the Heat (49-22), who outscored Detroit 15-2 to start the final period.

Detroit led from midway through the first quarter until James' driving layup with 9:22 left gave the Heat the lead for good, 82-81. James added eight rebounds and seven assists.

The Heat have won six of their last seven games and moved to within 2 1/2 games of Chicago in the Eastern Conference.

Richard Hamilton scored 27 points for the Pistons (25-46), which had their three-game home winning streak snapped. It was Hamilton's largest output since he had 27 on Dec. 10.

Hamilton scored 11 points in the first half as Detroit led by as many as 10 in the second quarter, but settled for a 55-53 lead at the break. The Pistons increased their lead to 81-76 after three periods.

The Heat have the best road record in the East at 23-12.