Winning 12 out of 15 games in the NBA calls for a little luck at some point. Consider Friday the Heat's lucky night.

Miami benefited from a game-altering missed call that apparently all but three people at the Bradley Center saw -- the officials.

Eddie Jones committed an apparent double-dribble on Miami's last possession of regulation before Jim Jackson hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to send the game against the Milwaukee Bucks into overtime. Jones sealed it in the extra period, drilling a 12-foot jumper with 7.1 seconds left in a 90-88 victory.

Had the double-dribble call been made, the game would likely have ended in an 82-79 Bucks win.

Jones acknowledged his mistake afterward, but he wasn't about to give back a game in which the Heat overcame a 17-point deficit. Combined with the New York Knicks' loss, Miami's victory moved it a half-game out of last place in the Atlantic Division.

''I have no problem admitting it,'' Jones said. ``But at the same time, on the play before that I got hammered. . . . It all evens out.''

That might be true, but usually it's far more subtle. On this play, Jones dribbled into the hulking Anthony Mason, picked up the ball with two hands, then began dribbling again as the clock was ticking down. He then passed to Jackson, who fired up the tying shot off one leg.

''That was blatant,'' Jones said.

So strong was the reaction that referee Joe DeRosa chastised the arena scoreboard operator for his continual replays that fueled the crowd's anger.

Bucks coach George Karl said an official told him the ball was tipped by a Bucks player, but Karl said, ``He's making an excuse for a blown call, and he knows it. It was a high school double-dribble.''

It was ''about as wild a game as you're going to see,'' Heat coach Pat Riley said. ``It was a war.''

Jones' winning basket came after he stole the ball from Tim Thomas and sprinted the other way, passing to Jackson before getting it back. After Jones hit the jumper, the Heat had to survive a Glenn Robinson miss at the buzzer.

The Heat's night ended with good fortune, but it began with a thud.

Robinson's 19 first-quarter points were the most scored in an opening period by a Heat opponent, his quick start helping Milwaukee to a 32-19 lead after the first quarter. The Heat did little to slow the Bucks after the start of the second period, falling behind by 17 points.

But the Heat, after seeing the Bucks take a 38-21 lead with 10:11 left in the first half, embarked on a furious rally to close the quarter on a 26-6 run that gave Miami a 47-44 halftime lead. The Heat regained the lead for the first time since the 8:35 mark of the first quarter when Brian Grant's layup made it 45-44 with 1:35 left in the half.

Grant had one of his best performances of the season, scoring 21 points and grabbing 13 rebounds on a night when Jones and Alonzo Mourning got off to slow starts. Jones finished with 22 points -- 20 in the second half -- and Mourning had 14 points and eight rebounds.

''That game could have went either way,'' Mourning said. ``We should be thankful we got out of here with a win.''

? Heat point guard Eddie House suffered a strained right knee in the fourth period and did not return.