Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade thought it was “great .. in the larger scheme of things” that his team struggled to beat the lowly Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night for its 20th straight victory.

“Right now we’re preparing for the play-offs,” Wade said after Miami rallied for a 98-94 victory, “so this was good, because we will have these same moments again.”

LeBron James, who had 27 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, hit the go-ahead free throw with 1:12 left, and Wade added four of his 21 points in the closing seconds to lift Miami (49-14).

The Heat became only the fifth team in NBA history to win at least 20 straight. The others were the 1971-72 Lakers (33), the 2007-08 Rockets (22), the 1970-71 Bucks (20) and the 1947-48/1948-49 Washington Capitols (20), whose streak spanned two seasons.

The Heat also ran its winning streak over Philadelphia to 14.

“We just don’t panic,” James said. “Our main goal is to win the game. It’s not to blow a team out.

“Whatever the case may be, we just want to play the game. Wherever the game takes us in 48 minutes, we’re ready for it.”

Thaddeus Young had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Sixers (24-40), who lost for the sixth time in seven games and the 13th time in 15 tries. Jrue Holiday had 21 points and seven assists.

“Regardless of who you’re playing or what’s laid out in front of you, you focus on the task at hand, and the guys took that to heart,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

“I’m sure the guys felt a little bit of fatigue going through there, but everybody has to deal with it.”

Turner finished with 15 points for the Sixers. Allen had 12 and Bosh 10 for Miami. Chris Andersen also scored 10 for the Heat.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the way our guys fought, kept battling and battling and battling,” Sixers coach Doug Collins said.

“We had a lot of guys play very, very well. At the end, (we) just couldn’t come up with that one rebound.”