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Wade's fourth-quarter outburst carries Heat past Pacers

Apr 14, 2007 - 6:00 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- Superstar Dwyane Wade must be over his injured shoulder.

Wade scored 14 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter as the defending champion Miami Heat rallied for a 100-95 triumph over the Indiana Pacers.

After missing 23 games with a separated shoulder, Wade connected on 9-of-22 shots for his first 20-point performance since suffering the injury on February 21 at Houston. He also had five steals.

"I'm excited I was able to shoot the ball the way I wanted," Wade said. "I'm happy to be out there making plays. It was pretty dark there for awhile but everything seemed to be pretty good."

The victory also helped Miami (44-36) remain in the battle for home-court advantage with Toronto (46-33), which holds a 2 1/2-game lead over the Heat in the Eastern Conference standings.

A three-time All-Star, Wade found James Posey for a 3-pointer from the left corner and scored on a one-handed jam over Mike Dunleavy during an aggressive 15-7 surge for a 97-94 lead with 43 seconds remaining.

"I just wanted to work some magic," Wade said. "I wanted to attack and attack. I know I told you guys I wasn't going to dunk, but I lied. I just had to be aggressive."

"It was a great finish for us," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "It took some great offensive plays by Dwyane and a big shot by Posey, and we get the win."

Indiana's Danny Granger netted two of his 24 points with a driving layup to make it a one-point contest four seconds later, but Wade fed Udonis Haslem for an easy basket at the 22-second mark and Posey split a pair to seal the win.

"We're programmed not to overreact when we're behind," said Heat center Shaquille O'Neal, who had 28 points and eight rebounds. "We know how to overcome, the guys are professionals and know how to get it done at the end."

With the loss, the Pacers (35-44) fell 1 1/2 games behind the idle Orlando Magic (36-42) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East with just three games left.

"We're still alive," Dunleavy said. "We just have to continue to play hard and see what happens. We just didn't do enough things to win the game."

"We need a miracle now," Granger said.

Dunleavy had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Troy Murphy and rookie Shawne Williams netted 10 each for Indiana, which shot 45 percent (33-of-72) from the floor.

Pacers All-Star Jermaine O'Neal scored just six points on 2-of-13 shooting.

"I couldn't have picked a worse game to have a 2-for-13 night," O'Neal said. "I was never able to get in a rhythm. The shots I missed were shots I normally make."