Wade Out-duels Foye, Wolves

In a must-win game of sorts for the Miami Heat, Dwyane Wade was his usual self and carried the Heat past the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that didn't have enough to win its sixth straight game.

Rodney Carney's jumper with four minutes and 23 seconds left in the game put Minnesota up 91-86. But on Miami's ensuing possession, Wade made a fade away jumper, while also receiving contact from Kevin Love. Wade made the free throw, and it was suddenly a two-point game. After the Timberwolves came up short on the offensive end, Wade found rookie sensation Michael Beasley for a jumper to tie the game with about three-and-a-half minutes left. On Miami's next possession, Wade turned the ball over, but Beasley took it right back. Miami's 6-foot-9 sixth man gave the ball to Shawn Marion, who lobbed it up for an easy Wade dunk. The Heat had taken the lead and the momentum from Minnesota.

But the game wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

Randy Foye, who finished with 29 points, nailed a three-pointer to put the 'Wolves up 96-95 with just under two minutes to go. After some sloppy execution by both teams, Marion drew a shooting foul on Ryan Gomes.
And so, Coach Erik Spoelstra was counting on free throws from a player who brings the ball up to his chin before releasing a shot to deliver clutch free throws. Fortunately, Marion made both free throws to give Miami a 97-96 lead with 22 seconds to go.

Minnesota coach Kevin McHale set up a play to feed the hot hand, Foye, who made 12-of-21 shots from the field and 5-of-10 attempts from downtown. This time, Wade made a clean block on Foye's jump shot with 13 seconds left. After an errant Carney three-point attempt, Minnesota was forced into a fouling mode. Wade and Beasley hit a pair of free throws to close out the game.

Wade had 31 points on 15 shot attempts, was 13-of-16 from the free throw line, eight assists, three steals and three blocks. Foye nearly matched Wade's numbers, but he couldn't shake free of the League's leading scorer when he went up for a shot with 13 seconds left.

Beasley had 14 points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes. But what was most impressive was that Beasley had six points and five rebounds in the fourth quarter, a stanza he played all 12 minutes in. The talented rookie out of Kansas State out-dueled fellow rookie Kevin Love, who finished with eight points and nine rebounds.

Udonis Haslem and Marion each contributed a double-double for Miami. Haslem finished with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 10 rebounds while Marion had 16 points on five-of-nine shooting, 11 rebounds and a pair of clutch free throws to put the Heat up for good.

James Jones only played six minutes against Minnesota, and still has not scored his first points as a member of the Heat. This allowed Yakhouba Diawara to play 15 minutes off the bench, who finished with eight points and two connections from beyond the arc.

Rookie Mario Chalmers had another tough night, going just one-for-nine from the field in 30 minutes. Chris Quinn got 18 minutes of playing time, and added seven points off the bench for Miami. Quinn's defensive liabilities were magnified, however, against Minnesota.

Does this mean we'll get another go-around with Marcus Banks? Banks had to wear street clothes last night. But keep in mind that Quinn came out of the rotation for a couple of weeks because Jordan Farmar took him apart in the Lakers' visit to Miami. It's more likely that Quinn will stay in the rotation because of his shooting and steadiness, but a return for Banks is certainly plausible.

Spoelstra had his team play Al Jefferson well, holding him to nine points on 4-of-14 shooting. The Heat did allow Minnesota to connect on 11 three-pointers, but Jefferson's high-percentage shooting around the basket is a key component to Minnesota's offense. Last night, Miami was able to take that away.

Joel Anthony and Jamaal Magloire combined for 16 minutes and 12 seconds of action, and Spoelstra instead went with a three-forward lineup of Marion, Beasley and Haslem late in the game. I still see Beasley coming off the bench as the punch of Miami's second unit, but he will be on the court in crunch time.

Daequan Cook, who was tied in sixth place for three-pointers made at 82, went scoreless last night.

Miami improved to 2-2 on its seven-game road trip and will face Milwaukee tonight at 8. The Heat earned its 20th win of the season and is two games behind Atlanta for the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta is in the midst of a four-game losing streak, and Miami can take advantage. Two of Miami's next three games are against below-.500 teams; and the one team above .500 is Houston, who will be without Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest.