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Posey, Wade lift Heat past Sonics

Nov 8, 2006 - 3:30 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- James Posey had one big shot waved off, so he came back with one that was even more clutch.

Posey hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 19 seconds to play and Dwyane Wade scored a season-high 31 points to lift the Miami Heat to a 90-87 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics.

With Shaquille O'Neal sitting out his second straight game with a bruised knee, the Heat battled back from an abysmal opening quarter in which they scored 11 points and shot 2-of-20 from the field.

"For the most part, it just seemed like one of those old Heat games where we couldn't shoot, making mistake after mistake, but hanging in there and making enough stops, getting the lead, and making the big shot to win the game," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "We stayed the course in a sloppy game for us, but we prevailed when we had to."

It certainly didn't look to be Miami's night when Posey's 3-pointer with 3:49 to play was waved off due to an offensive foul on Udonis Haslem.

The Heat trailed, 85-79, at the time, but held the Sonics to just two points over the final 4 1/2 minutes. Seattle leading scorer Ray Allen twice missed the second of two free throws in the last 1:47.

That gave Posey another chance and he responded by drilling a 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Heat an 88-87 lead.

"It's always good when shots fall. It's about being in the right place at the right time," Posey said. "The one (3-pointer) that really needed to count, counted. Hey, things like that happen in this game. You just stay with it and good things happen."

Seattle twice had chances to go ahead or tie, but Damien Wilkens fell down on one possession and missed an open 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"That is the third game we gave away this year," Sonics coach Bob Hill said. "It is almost like we are afraid to win. We just keep giving games away and it's disappointing."

Wade scored 13 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter as Miami closed the game with an 11-2 run. The dynamic guard finished 8-of-23 after missing all seven shots in the first quarter.

"You have to find a way to make it happen," Wade said. "I just keep taking my shots and hope they fall. Things will come around for this team."

Rashard Lewis had 23 points and Allen added 18 for the Sonics, who shot 43 percent (30-of-70).

Allen was just 5-of-17 but buried his first four foul shots until the two costly late misses. "I missed two of them. It's not something I'm happy about," Allen said. "It definitely makes the outcome of the game different, but there is nothing I can do about it now."

Alonzo Mourning started in place of O'Neal and had 13 points and six rebounds for the Heat, who shot 40 percent (31-of-78) overall and 50 percent over the final three quarters.