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Walker's fourth quarter outburst helps Heat edge Jazz

Mar 14, 2007 - 3:43 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- Antoine Walker waited until the final quarter to make his presence felt.

Walker scored all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter as the Miami Heat used a huge rally to post an 88-86 victory over the Utah Jazz, who had their six-game winning streak ended.

Jason Williams netted 15 points and superstar Shaquille O'Neal added 13 and nine rebounds for the Heat, who extended their winning streak to a season-best seven games.

"We've been through a lot and know how to win," O'Neal said. "We're the most experienced team in the league in these situations. Nothing rattles us. We always seem to pick it up when we have to."

Miami (34-29) also pushed its undefeated streak at home to 13 games and has closed within one-half game of idle Washington (34-28) for first place in the Southeast Division.

"We don't have much room for error," Walker said. "So we have to keep winning and keep the streak going."

The Jazz were up 74-60 to start the fourth quarter before the Heat made things interesting.

Behind Walker's play, Miami used a commanding 23-8 burst to grab an 83-82 lead on the former All-Star's baseline floater with 3:46 left.

"(Walker) was great when the game counted the most," Miami coach Pat Riley said. "He was screaming for it at the end. It was like he was back in Boston."

"(Riley) kept running plays for me, and I wanted to stay aggressive," Walker said. "The shots weren't falling for me early, so I decided to attack and get to the basket, and that seemed to work."

Walker struggled through the opening three quarters, going 0-of-6 from the field. He finished 6-of-17 overall.

"I've been in this position before," Walker said. "Fortunately, coach had confidence in me. You still want to be the guy who can put up 15, 16 shots and still be there for your team."

Mehmet Okur connected on a wide-open 3-pointer from the left wing with 1:28 remaining, giving Utah a slight 86-85 edge.

After Eddie Jones made a pair of the free throws to help Miami regain a one-point lead, Matt Harpring threw the in-bounds pass away and Udonis Haslem made 1-of-2 foul shots to make it 88-86 with two seconds to go.

"We didn't have any answers," Okur said. "They took the game away from us. We played well for three quarters and then lose. It's very tough."

The Jazz still had one last chance to send the game into overtime, but All-Star Carlos Boozer misfired as the buzzer sounded as Utah fell in the opener of a four-game road trip.

"If you're going to grow, you're going to grow in a game like this," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "When you take quick shots down the stretch like that, you're playing right into their hands."

Boozer collected 20 points and 13 rebounds and Deron Williams added 15 and eight assists for the Jazz, who were dominated, 48-22, in points in the paint.