• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Wade, Heat edge Sonics, notch rare win

Mar 1, 2008 - 7:29 AM By Paul Lowenberg PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Dwyane Wade scored 31 points and Ricky Davis added 10 of his 15 in the fourth-quarter stretch run to give the Miami Heat a 103-93 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night.

Shawn Marion collected 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat, who snapped a 14-game road losing streak and extended the Sonics' skid to four games.

"We had a really good second half," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "Marcus (Banks) played one of his best games of the year. Earl (Barron) came in and gave us a lot of energy. It was a good bounce back for Dwyane."

Miami trailed by as many as 10 points in the third period before mounting a 15-4 run, which was capped by Banks' running jumper and free throw for a 77-76 lead heading into the final quarter.

Davis hit a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to spark the Heat to a 7-2 run to start the fourth quarter as Miami led by six.

"It was like a regular win, but everyone is getting better," Davis said. "Everybody is starting to depend on each other and help each other."

After the Sonics cut it to 84-82 with 7:54 remaining in the game, the Heat went on a 12-4 run with Marion contributing six points to build a 96-86 advantage with 2:37 left.

"We really buckled down in the fourth quarter," Marion said. "We stopped them and we started attacking them. We did what we wanted to do and opened the game up and the next thing you know, the game is over with."

Sonics rookie Kevin Durant scored a pair of baskets to cut it to 96-90 with 1:54 left, but that was as close as it got for Seattle.

The Sonics led 26-25 at the end of one but opened the second period with a 14-5 run to build a 40-30 advantage with 5:41 remaining in the second quarter.

Led by Wade's six points, the Heat went on a 14-7 burst of their own to cut the lead to 47-44 by halftime. Wade, who had been held under 20 points in his previous two games, scored 17 before the intermission to lead the Heat.

Miami travels to Sacramento on Sunday with a chance to wind up 2-1 on its three-game road trip.

"If you look at the road trip, and we win two out of three, you'll say we did a darn good job," Wade said.

The Heat played without forward Udonis Haslem, one of their top rebounders and scorers, who sat out the game with a sprained left ankle.

Chris Wilcox wound up with a season-high 30 points - just two shy of his career best - and Durant added 24, including seven in the final 3:18, as Seattle struggled to come back.

The Sonics now head out on a seven-game Eastern road trip, and Wilcox admitted the loss will make it a lot harder.

"I mean it's definitely going to be rough because we thought this was a game we could win," Wilcox said. "We have just got to stay focused and play hard for four quarters."

Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said that was something his struggling team failed to do.

"We didn't defend nearly as well in the second half as we did in the first," Carlesimo said. "We obviously had a lot of trouble with Shawn and D-Wade, but offensive boards in the second half really hurt us."