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Wade, O'Neal team up as Heat face Pacers

Apr 13, 2007 - 2:42 PM Indiana (35-43) at Miami (43-36) 8:00 pm EDT

MIAMI (Ticker) -- After wrapping up the Southeast Division, the Miami Heat will have a tougher time grabbing home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal are expected to appear in the starting lineup together Friday for the first time in nearly two months when the Heat face the Indiana Pacers, who are fighting for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Heat won their third straight Southeast Division title on Wednesday with an 85-82 victory over Washington. Miami is fifth in the East, 2 1/2 games behind Toronto (45-33) for the fourth spot and home-court advantage in the first round.

In just his third game back from a dislocated shoulder, Wade collected 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds on Wednesday.

But the superstar guard has not been able to team up with O'Neal, who has missed two straight games to attend his grandfather's funeral. The duo played together in Sunday's 111-103 loss to the Bobcats, but Wade did not start.

Trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 1997 - the longest streak in the East - the Pacers are one game behind Orlando (36-42) for the final postseason spot. However, Indiana owns the tiebreaker over Orlando.

The Pacers posted a 104-98 victory over the lowly Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday. Mike Dunleavy Jr. matched his season high with 25 points and Danny Granger added 18 and a career-high 10 assists.

Wade averaged 32.5 points as the teams split the first two meetings but sat out the last contest on March 23 - a convincing 95-70 Indiana win.