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Wade powers Heat to fourth straight win

Jan 14, 2007 - 6:22 AM SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) -- Superstar Dwyane Wade sure does make a huge difference.

Wade scored 32 points and Jason Williams added 20 as the resurgent Miami Heat won their fourth straight game, a 119-110 triumph over the Utah Jazz.

With Wade resting his injured right wrist, the Heat suffered through a season-worst five-game losing streak. But since the two-time All-Star has returned, Miami is playing more like the reigning NBA champions.

"We're playing with a lot of confidence," Wade said. "We've got our so-called swagger back. Teammates are coming back. Everyone's playing good, everyone's in great shape. We're shooting the ball well."

"What we're starting to show, I think, is some of the resiliency we had last year," Heat assistant coach Ron Rothstein said. "When things weren't going well, we'd gather ourselves and make a run."

On Saturday, Wade made 5-of-12 shots and sank 21-of-23 free throws. He also had 10 assists and a career-tying six steals.

"I didn't really feel my pull-up game tonight; it just didn't feel right," Wade said. "So I knew that for me to be effective, I had to go to the basket. I was getting there pretty effectively, and they were having to foul me. They put me on the line a lot, and I stepped up and made free throws."

The 6-4 Wade has registered three straight double-doubles, topping the 30-point plateau twice since returning.

"We weren't trying to just go out there and foul him every time," Utah guard Deron Williams said. "We tried to play defense on him and he got a lot of calls."

In the second quarter, Wade converted a three-point play and Jason Williams drained a 3-pointer with 1:28 left as the Heat built a 61-44 advantage. Miami scored 39 points in the period.

"We just tried to go out and play as free as we can, and have fun," Jason Williams said. "When we're winning these games, it makes it a little bit easier to have fun, you know?"

The Heat lead by as many as 22 points in the third quarter before the Jazz made a late charge.

Utah pulled to 99-92 on Carlos Boozer's 16-foot jumper with 9:37 remaining. But Miami answered with an impressive 10-0 surge highlighted by two 3-pointers by Jason Kapono.

"We were just consistent," Miami center Alonzo Mourning said. "We knew that they had a run in them, especially at home. They're a great ballclub; they've proven that all season long so far. We just had great contributions from everybody. Defensively, we made a pretty solid stand."

"We had a chance," Boozer said. "We cut it down to seven or eight, something like that, and made three turnovers in a row, gave them some momentum. They came down and scored, and after that it was a double-digit deficit the rest of the game."

Kapono scored 18 points and Mourning had 13 and four blocks for the Heat, who improved to 4-1 on their six-game West Coast trip and shot 56 percent (13-of-23) from the arc.

Boozer had 29 points and 14 rebounds and Deron Williams scored 19 points for Utah, which dropped a season-high third straight games and six consecutive in the series.

"We've just got to keep going, keep grinding," Boozer said. "We're just gonna get this one out of our heads. Every game is tough; there are no easy games in the NBA."

The Jazz open a four-game East Coast swing Monday at Washington.