Wade Lifts Heat Past 'Cats

Dwyane Wade was again called upon to rally the Miami Heat in the fourth quarter to a win, and did not disappoint.

After Charlotte point guard D.J. Augustin made a three-pointer to put the Bobcats up 84-79 with just under seven minutes to go, Wade turned it on and got the job done. Wade found Yakhouba Diawara in the corner for a three to make it 82-84. But a couple of minutes later, Wade decided to take it into his own hands.

After grabbing a defensive rebound and taking the ball up court, Wade used a screen from Shawn Marion and drove right into the lane and viciously dunked on Emeka Okafor. That dunk made the game was tied at 86 all with 4:02 remaining. The game was mostly free throws from then on, but that play helped Miami overcome what was as much as a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit.
Jason Richardson missed two free throws that could have tied the game at 93 all, but Diawara, Udonis Haslem and Wade all made their free throws en route to a 100-96 victory. The crowd again serenaded Wade from the stands with chants of "M-V-P! M-V-P!" as he went to the line 19 times, with 15 connections.

Wade finished with 41 points on just 22 shot attempts. Wade also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists. Wade continued to stay true with his jump shot. Wade even shot four three-pointers last night, and connected on two. The turnovers (five) were a blemish, but the rest of the Heat only turned the ball over six times.

Wade's back-court mate, rookie Mario Chalmers, managed to out-play both Raymond Felton and Augustin. Chalmers had 15 points on five-of-nine shooting from the field and four-for-five from the free throw line to go along with three steals and three assists. Felton and Augustin, by comparison, shot a combined 6-for-25. Additionally, Chalmers was not the catch-and-shoot three-point shooter he has been all season long. He drove to the rim and took it off the dribble a lot.

Late in the game, Coach Erik Spoelstra went with a lineup of Chalmers, Wade, Diawara, Marion and Haslem. I expect Spoelstra to use that again, as going small was very effective against Charlotte. Diawara especially did his part defensively. After Charlotte guard Jason Richardson scored 13 points in the first quarter, Diawara guarded Richardson for most of the second and fourth quarters. Richardson went one-for-four during those quarters.

Other than Wade, Chalmers and Diawara, no one else played well for Miami. Marion shot just 5-for-13 from the field, missing several short shots. Haslem shot just one-for-five from the field, but did make his free throws down the stretch. Joel Anthony did have six rebounds, but did little to slow down Okafor, who finished with 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting and 12 rebounds. Quinn shot decent from the field, but his lack of foot-speed was exploited against the quickness of Felton and Augustin. Michael Beasley had a rough shooting night, and is still not able to step up as a definitive second-scoring option.

The Heat barely beat the Gerald Wallace-less Bobcats at home. The underrated Wallace had to go to the funeral of his grandmother. The Heat simply cannot continue to rely on Wade to bail the team out. Marion has proven to be a third-scoring option at best, and Beasley still has not found consistency to be the second option on offense.

Miami, nonetheless, is just percentage points behind New Jersey and Detroit and within striking distance of the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. The players will get plenty of rest before taking on the fourth-seeded Atlanta Hawks Friday night.