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Wade, Heat surge in third to top Timberwolves

Apr 2, 2011 - 3:15 AM Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Dwyane Wade scored half of his 32 points in the pivotal third quarter, and the Miami Heat moved closer to the Southeast Division title with a 111-92 win over the stumbling Minnesota Timberwolves.

Wade's performance in the third quarter helped pull away thanks to a game- decisive 25-1 run to start the period.

Chris Bosh had 24 points and 11 rebounds while LeBron James added 27 points and 10 assists for the Heat, who are 2-1 in a four-game road trip to the some of the league's worst teams. They round out the journey with a game at New Jersey on Sunday.

With the Heat looking forward to a postseason appearance, the Timberwolves are spiraling out of control with a season-long nine-game losing streak. Martell Webster scored 22 points off the bench, while Kevin Love posted 18 points and seven boards to make up his third straight game without a double-double.

"It's a tough stretch," Timberwolves center Anthony Tolliver said. "We showed signs that were able to compete. It's something we can build upon."

The impressive 25-1 run spanned nearly seven minutes to start the third. During the stretch, Wade had 10 points -- eight of them coming from dunks. It was 76-53 after the spurt.

"We didn't want them to have the momentum," Wade said. "We came out with energy and tried to put them away. You don't want a team like this hanging around because they have some dangerous players."

Miami ended the quarter with a 85-72 lead, shooting a blazing 65.2 percent from the field and holding the Timberwolves to 26.1 percent shooting. However, Minnesota scored most if its points of the quarter during the final 2 1/2 minutes with an 8-0 run.

In the early moments of the fourth, the Timberwolves cut it to 10 on a pair of Webster free throws. But Miami held off a comeback, ballooning its lead to as much as 21 to finish out the game.

Miami took 30-20 lead heading into the second. Minnesota, though, netted eight of second quarter's first 10 points to pull within four.

Luke Ridnour's three-pointer gave Minnesota a 52-49 lead with 54.1 seconds left in the half. James finished out the half's scoring with a dunk, making it a 52-51 score at the break in favor of the home team.

Game Notes

Miami won the first matchup of the season with the Wolves by a 129-97 score on November 2 and swept the season series...The Heat lost to Cleveland to start the four-game road trip but beat Washington on Thursday...Miami finished shooting 54.5 percent of its shots, while the Timberwolves made 42 percent...Ridnour and Michael Beasley scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, in the loss.