MIAMI - Everyone in the Miami huddle was bracing for a grind to the finish. On the other bench, the sense around the Milwaukee Bucks was that an upset was there for the taking.

Then the Heat landed a swift knockout punch.

Dwyane Wade scored 21 points, LeBron James finished with 19 and the Heat used a frantic start to the fourth quarter to pull away and beat the Bucks 98-86 in Game 2 of the teams’ NBA Eastern Conference first-round series Tuesday night.

It was 68-65 entering the fourth. With James and four backups on the court, the Heat needed only 2:22 to outscore Milwaukee 12-0 and stretch the lead to 80-65 - ensuring the reigning NBA champions would take a 2-0 series lead into Game 3 on Thursday night.

“We held court,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We protected it for two games. We did what we’re supposed to do. And that’s it.”

Chris Bosh, Shane Battier and Chris Andersen each scored 10 points for the Heat. James’ postseason streaks of 22 consecutive games with at least 20 points, and 16 consecutive games of at least 25 points, both came to an end.

Ultimately, it didn’t matter.

“We didn’t get into our game like we wanted to in that third quarter,” James said. “But we went into the fourth with a [three-point] lead and we were able to jump on them.”

Ersan Ilyasova scored 21 points for Milwaukee, which got 16 from Mike Dunleavy and 14 from Larry Sanders.The Bucks’ starting guards, Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis, scored only 15 points combined - after teaming up to score 48 in Game 1.

“It’s a series,” said Sanders, who had a sore right ankle after he collided with Battier in the fourth quarter. “We made progress this game.”

They’ll need to make more, and do it quickly. James has never lost in 10 previous series where his team takes a 2-0 lead, and Wade is 8-0 in that same situation.

“In the playoffs you’ve got to find different ways to win,” Wade said. “No matter what everybody says on the outside, [Milwaukee] is a good team. They played us very well.”

For about 46 minutes, the Bucks played them even.

It was that 12-0 run that was the difference - in what finished as a 12-point game.

Andersen started it with a three-point play, James had a layup not long afterward and the Heat were starting to roll. Another basket by Andersen off a pass from Ray Allen made it 77-65, and James found Norris Cole for a three-pointer that capped the flurry and made it 80-65.

Just like that, it was over, even to Miami’s surprise.

“They were doing some things that had us spinning around a little bit defensively, got us on our heels, and offensively we never got into a rhythm,” Spoelstra said. “So we figured we were just going to have to find a way to grind in the fourth quarter, figuring it was going to be a close game.”

The Heat have raved about their depth all season, so they had no qualms about sending James out to start the fourth with Cole, Andersen, Battier and Ray Allen.

By the time starters like Wade and Bosh got back onto the court, the task was merely protecting the lead, which the Heat did with relative ease.

“We felt pretty good about the position we were in, giving ourselves an opportunity on the road with 12 minutesto go,” Bucks Coach Jim Boylan said. “You feel good about that. Then they come out, go on a 12-0 run and it changes the complexion of the game. Playing catch-up is very hard to do against a high-quality team like Miami.”

Play was sloppy from the outset, with the teams committing a combined eight turnovers in the first six minutes. Wade, James and Chalmers shot 15 for 19 combined in the first half for Miami - and the rest of the Heat were 3 for 17. For Milwaukee, Ilyasova had 12 points in the first 10 minutes, then two points the rest of the half.

So much like in Game 1, Milwaukee came out for the second half with a chance of stealing home-court advantage.

And for the entirety of the third quarter, the Bucks hung around, though the Heat showed some signs of getting things going. Bosh had a dunk for a six-point lead, then made a jumper - on a play that James started by running down a loose ball and flicking it between his legs for a save along the sideline - for a 68-60 lead, what was then the biggest Heat margin.

The Bucks got within 68-65 to end the third, but then came the run that Miami had been waiting for all evening.

KNICKS 87, CELTICS 71

NEW YORK - Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points, Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith added 19, and New York opened a 2-0 series lead over Boston.

Raymond Felton added 16 points for the Knicks, who used a 27-4 run spanning halftime to blow it open and move halfway to their first series victory since the 2000 Eastern Conference semifinals. This is their first 2-0 lead since sweeping Toronto in the first round that year.

Paul Pierce scored 18 points for the Celtics, who will host Game 3 on Friday in their first home game since the Boston Marathon bombings.

Kevin Garnett had 12 points and 11 rebounds, but battled foul trouble for Boston.

Anthony followed his 36-point opener by making 8 of 13 shots in the second half to finish 11 of 24.

NBA playoffs FIRST ROUND (Best-of-7) MONDAY’S GAMES Chicago 90, Brooklyn 82,

series tied 1-1 LA Clippers 93, Memphis 91,

LA Clippers leads series 2-0 TUESDAY’S GAMES Miami 98, Milwaukee 86,

Miami leads series 2-0 New York 87, Boston 71,

New York leads series 2-0 Golden State at Denver, (n),

Denver leads series 1-0 TODAY’S GAMES All times Central Houston at Oklahoma City, 6 p.m.,

Oklahoma City leads series 1-0 Atlanta at Indiana, 6:30 p.m.,

Indiana leads series 1-0 LA Lakers at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.,

San Antonio leads series 1-0 THURSDAY’S GAMES Miami at Milwaukee, 6 p.m.

Brooklyn at Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

LA Clippers at Memphis, 8:30 p.m.

Sports, Pages 21 on 04/24/2013