Miami
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points against the Sixers last night as the Heat beat the Sixers 93-83. For him, that's a regular day at the office. No extraneous heroics were required since Allen Iverson sat the game out, injured. But compare that to the 23 points he scored in just the fourth quarter alone in Miami's 107-105overtime victory over Utah on Friday. In that game, Wade needed every one of his career-high 39 points, including the game-winning shot at the buzzer, to put away the Jazz. The Heat have now won three straight.
Against Utah, the Heat had rebounding problems, despite Shaq's 11 boards (to complement nicely his 21 points) but were able to stay in the game by minimizing turnovers to just eight over the 53 minutes of action. Against Philadelphia, the situation was reversed: the Heat outrebounded the Sixers but also turned the ball over 19 times. Yet they managed to get a win in each situation.
Nothing better than winning no matter what happens.
Potentially overshadowed by his scoring, Wade's assists have been phenomenal. He had eight against Utah and seven against Philadelphia. Unfortunately he also got five turnovers in each game. That's more than 60 percent of the total Miami turnovers against Utah.
Wade's game is so amazing versatile. Against Utah he was one rebound, two steals, and three blocks away from one of the rarest basketball feats on earth: the five-by-five (five or more points, steals, assists, rebounds, and blocks).
Udonis Haslem also had a very solid game last night, chipping in with his own 14-and-10 double-double, including a supremely respectable seven offensive rebounds. If he does that every game for the rest of his career, he will eclipse Moses Malone's career record of about 5.5 offensive rebounds per game.
NEXT GAME
The Heat (8-3) host the Portland Trail Blazers (4-5) tomorrow, Tuesday, November 23rd, at 7:30pm. The game will be broadcast on the Sunshine network and NBA League Pass. Both of these teams seem to be making passes at Toronto's Vince Carter so there's a reasonable chance that Vince will be in street clothes for one of these teams tomorrow night!
TEAM NOTES
The entire Heat roster, along with the coaching staff and front office personnel, will conduct their annual Thanksgiving event in Overtown, the historical African-American area in Miami, TONIGHT, November 22nd.
Starting with Tuesday's game against Portland, the Heat are making available $10 seats! They are also increasing inventory for the popular Family Meal Deal. Now local fans can finally see Superman and the Flash in live action for about the price of a movie!
INJURY UPDATE
Jerome Beasley(back),Christian Laettner(back) andDorell Wright(abdominal) are on the Heat's injured list.
The Associated Press writes inThe Herald Tribune: "This is like the best team I've been on in a while," O'Neal said."We've got good shooters, and I've got people not worrying about their stats. It's a good fun team to be on, and I look to have fun this year."
Israel Gutierrez ofThe Miami Heraldwrites: 'I come to him and ask him, `How should I have made that pass?' '' Wade said. 'He'll tell you, `Next time throw it up higher,' or 'Next time throw it faster.' He's a smart dude, so he knows what to do.'' Said Shaq: ``They missed me a couple times, but they've never played with a big man of my caliber. I am a special big man, you know.'' With the help of that special big man, Van Gundy reached 50 victories faster than any Heat coach, doing it one game faster (93) than his predecessor, Pat Riley. But Van Gundy said no one would be silly enough to deem him the better coach. ''Maybe my 5-year-old would,'' Van Gundy said. ``My 7, 10 and 13-year-olds are all smarter than that.''
Phil Jasner ofThe Philadelphia Inquirerwrites: But the Sixers were up against the Heat, which meant not only the giant shadow of Shaquille O'Neal, but the rising star of point guard Dwyane Wade.For the Sixers, all of this simply did not add up. O'Neal did his usual damage, with 19 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks, while Wade produced 25 points and seven assists. With O'Neal and Udonis Haslem (14 rebounds) pounding inside, off-the-bench guard Damon Jones got enough good looks to knock down five three-pointers en route to 17 points.