MIAMI -- Once Dwyane Wade got rolling, things seemed almost easy for the
Miami Heat.
Wade -- virtually silent offensively for the first three quarters --
had 18 of his 26 points in the final period and the Heat held San Antonio w
ithout a field goal for more than 7 minutes down the stretch on the way
to beating the Spurs 100-85 on Sunday.
He was 3-for-9 from the field entering the fourth, then hit 7-of-10 shots
in the final 12 minutes, falling two points short of matching the
Spurs' offensive total in the stanza by himself. Miami outscored San Antonio
31-20 in the fourth.
"It was a great game until Dwyane Wade decided to take over," Spurs coach
Gregg Popovich said. "And then it was over."
Shaquille O'Neal had 16 points in 25 minutes; he didn't play in the final
15:44, partly because he's still coming back from knee surgery, partly because
the smaller lineup the Heat used did well enough to not necessitate his return.
Jason Kapono added his first career double-double, 13 points and 11
rebounds.
The win was Miami's fifth in its last six games and pulled the Heat within one
game of the .500 mark again; Miami (25-26) can get there Tuesday when it hosts
Portland in its last game before the All-Star break.
"We're just trying to continue to get better," Wade said. "If anyone knows
basketball, they understand that we're not going anywhere, that we've been
having a lot of injuries. But we're getting it back. That's our whole focus,
to keep going this way."
Manu Ginobili had 26 points off the bench for the Spurs, who fell to 2-4 on
their eight-game road trip. Tony Parker added 20 for San Antonio, while
Tim Duncan finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Brent Barry scored 11.
"We're still not playing physically enough, tough enough," Popovich said.
"We're playing soft for too many minutes in the game. Just hoping and begging."
The Spurs were within one point twice in the final quarter, but missed eight
straight shots over a stretch of 7:12 -- and Miami capitalized, outscoring
San Antonio 20-8 during that drought to open a big lead and eventually prevail
in a matchup of the last two NBA champions.
"We're just not able to get over that hump when we need to," Duncan said.
"The consistency is not there, offensively and defensively."
Wade single-handedly kept the Spurs off the scoreboard twice midway through
the fourth quarter, with a pair of highlight-reel blocks against Parker
near the basket. Both came within a 9-second span and represented Parker's
only attempts in the fourth, during which San Antonio shot 5-for-17.
"Great defense. It surprised me a little bit," Parker said.
Fueled by an early 18-0 edge in bench scoring, the Spurs led 31-25 with 7:13
left in the first half before Miami's reserves began contributing.
Eddie Jones had eight points, three assists and a steal in a 17-1 run
over a 3-minute stretch -- all with Wade on the bench -- that put Miami up
42-32 with 3:54 left.
Jones finished with 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting.
"Eddie was huge," Heat interim coach Ron Rothstein said.
"Capital H, capital U, capital G, capital E. He was terrific."
But the Spurs' bench -- namely Ginobili -- answered after that Heat run.
Ginobili scored the game's next seven points, part of 10 he had in a 2 1/2-
minute span, to kickstart San Antonio's 14-3 run to end the half. Wade's
first basket put Miami up by one with 18.3 seconds before halftime, but
Parker's layup with 2.7 seconds remaining gave the Spurs a 46-45 lead at the
break.
It stayed tight in the third, with seven lead changes and neither team holding
more than a five-point lead. Miami got only one field goal in the final 6 1/2
minutes of the quarter and Wade was 2-for-6 with 4 points in the period, but
Miami still managed to take a 69-65 lead into the fourth quarter.
And when Wade hit his first three shots of the final quarter, matching his
total from the first three, the Heat steadily began pulling away.
"We were good," Rothstein said. "We played with a lot of determination and
effort and hustle. If you're going to beat a good team, that's what you have to
do."
Game notes
Heat guard Jason Williams missed his seventh straight game with a torn
abdominal muscle. He won't play Tuesday, either. ... Duncan was 5-for-11 from
the foul line. ... Kapono had a career high in rebounds by the midway point of
the third quarter. His previous best was eight. ... Parker's fiancee,
"Desperate Housewives" actress Eva Longoria, was at the game.
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