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Wade, Heat use late run to beat Hawks in overtime

Nov 19, 2006 - 3:19 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- As long as they have Dwyane Wade, the Miami Heat do not mind being shorthanded.

Wade scored 37 points and Udonis Haslem added 21 and a season-high 17 rebounds as the Heat used a decisive overtime run to post a 93-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Jason Williams collected 10 points, four rebounds and four assists for Miami, which shot just 36 percent (32-of-88) from the field but outrebounded the Hawks, 56-49.

Heat coach Pat Riley also lauded the team's defensive effort.

"This goes to show that the only way to win a game like this on the road is with tough stops," Riley said. "We made five tough stops and hit free throws at the end and that translated into this win."

Wade tied the game on a 3-pointer with 1:45 remaining in overtime. On the ensuing Heat possession, he assisted on Williams' shot from the arc to make it 84-81 with 1:29 left in the extra period.

"Big three. (Jason) Williams can shoot the ball," Wade said. "I saw he had a lot of room. It was very big for us. The way we won it was a gut-out game. Last game (vs. New York Friday), we didn't battle back. This time we kept coming and kept coming."

With Shaquille O'Neal sidelined with a knee injury for four to six weeks, Wade shot 11-of-25 from the floor and collected seven rebounds and nine assists. Haslem was 7-of-12 from the field and nailed a free throw to cap a game-deciding 9-0 spurt to make it 87-81 with 38 seconds remaining.

"A lot more is going to come on me," Wade said. "Most of the time when (O'Neal) plays, he may get 40 or 50 touches and I may get 40 to 50; when he's out my touches are going to go up a little more."

With the game tied, 74-74, Miami had a chance to win the game on the final possession of regulation. The Heat corralled three offensive rebounds on the possession and Antoine Walker missed three potential game-winning shots, including a 3-pointer as time expired.

"We need to be more determined," Hawks guard Joe Johnson said. "We gave up loose balls, they get the rebound, they get four cracks at it for the game-winner. We didn't even get a shot, plain and simple."

After missed opportunities, Miami could have easily folded in the extra period, but showed some mettle.

"It was a collective effort. Everybody did their part defensively and offensively," Heat center Alonzo Mourning said. "We had to make plays in order for us to win. Fortunately, things fell our way."

Johnson scored 22 points for Atlanta, which shot 37 percent (33-of-89) and was 3-of-24 from the arc.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson did not like his team's shot selection.

"Guys are shooting threes when they're not supposed to be shooting threes," Woodson said. "We're doing things backwards when we were doing things the right way. When you're in the penalty, those threes look good, but they're fool's gold."