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Kapono's big fourth quarter leads Heat past Cavaliers

Feb 25, 2007 - 11:36 PM MIAMI (Ticker) -- Jason Kapono shouldered the load in Dwyane Wade's absence.

Kapono scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Miami Heat to an 86-81 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Asked to take on a bigger role after Wade - the NBA Finals MVP and the Heat's best player - went down with a dislocated left shoulder Wednesday, Kapono responded in his second straight start.

Kapono, the winner of the Three-Point Shootout at All-Star Weekend, was just 2-of-12 from the field and missed all six of his attempts from 3-point range in the first three quarters.

However, Kapono found his stroke in the final period, making 4-of-6 shots and his only attempt from the arc. His jumper at the 11:10 mark triggered a 10-3 surge to start the fourth quarter that gave the Heat a 71-62 lead.

After the Cavs narrowed the deficit to 77-72, Kapono drilled his lone 3-pointer from the left corner with 3:34 remaining to again give the Heat some breathing room.

Kapono should continue to see plenty of playing time since Wade's return this season could be in doubt.

Another player asked to pick up his game in Wade's absence is Shaquille O'Neal, a three-time Finals MVP who has been limited to 16 games this season due to a knee injury.

O'Neal turned in 29 active minutes, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds en route to his third double-double of the season.

The Heat also received a big effort off the bench from veteran Alonzo Mourning, who scored 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 17 minutes.

James Posey added 10 points for the Heat, who have split two games since Wade went down. Miami was coming off Thursday's 112-100 loss at Dallas in a rematch of last June's Finals.

Cavaliers superstar LeBron James had a big game but received very little help from his teammates.

James scored 29 points on 10-of-22 shooting. The rest of his teammates made just 21-of-64 shots from the floor as Cleveland finished at 36 percent (31-of-86) for the game.