Vince Carter's three-point shot with Wade right in his face made it an 83-73 game with 5:48 to go. On the Heat's next possession, Wade gave it up to Daequan Cook, who nailed a three. Wade then hit two other triples late in the game, a rarity for the six-foot-four guard out of Marquette to cut more into the lead. Wade's bank-shot made it all tied up at 88 apiece with 1:35 left to go. But it was Chris Quinn who hit six consecutive free-throws late in the game to ice the victory for Miami.
Wade finished with 33 points on 9-of-18 shooting, 11-for-12 from the free-throw line and four-for-seven from downtown. Wade also had five assists and four steals, but also committed six turnovers. However, the Heat as a whole only committed 13 turnovers. When Erik Spoelstra has a player who is going to commit several turnovers, the key for the team is to have other players surrounding Wade who take care of the basketball. The role players have struck the right accord so far this season.
Newcomer Yakhouba Diawara replaced Marion in the starting lineup, a move by Spoelstra to bulk up his defense against Carter. But Diawara was on the court for just 20 minutes, and Spoelstra went to a three-guard lineup, using Cook at the three. Cook shot very well from beyond the arc, scoring 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting. More importantly, however, Cook kept Carter honest on defense.
Carter finished with 22 points on 7-for-16 shooting and Keyon Dooling had 18 on the night. But Miami's biggest problem defensively was against Yi Jianlian. The seven-foot forward out of China was simply too lengthy for the six-foot-nine Michael Beasley. Yi finished with a double-double, registering 24 points and 10 rebounds while hitting five three-pointers from beyond the arc.
That is not to say that Beasley had a bad game. The rookie out of Kansas State finished with 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting and six rebounds. Fifteen of Beasley's 19 points came in the first half, as he showcased his mid-range ability and his low-post moves last night.
After six chances, Spoelstra has finally decided to take Mark Blount out of the center rotation. Blount, who averaged less than four points and not even two rebounds this season, was inactive last night. Joel Anthony, the sophomore center, got 16 minutes of playing time last night. Anthony had four rebounds in his first outing of the season, one shy of Blount's season high.
Guard Marcus Banks (hip injury) was active but did not play last night. Spoelstra has seemingly settled on his one-two point guard punch of Mario Chalmers and Quinn. It will be interesting to see how Spoelstra (or maybe Pat Riley, upstairs) will deal with point guards Chalmers and Shaun Livingston after Chalmers and Quinn have exceeded expectations.
Hoping to see forward Dorell Wright get some playing time with Marion out? Keep on hoping. Wright could not even get out of his street clothes last night. Spoelstra said that the reason Wright did not dress was to continue to get back in shape after last summer's knee surgery.
Miami (4-3) is now second in the Southeast Division and currently have the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Heat is 3-0 on its home-court, but will be tested Wednesday by the Portland Trailblazers at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
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