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Wade, Heat make easy work of Wizards

Nov 15, 2008 - 5:05 AM By Christopher Stock PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MIAMI (Ticker) -- Dwyane Wade has been doing it all for the Miami Heat - but on Friday night, he didn't have to.

The superstar guard led a balanced offensive attack as the Heat rolled to a 97-77 rout of the hapless Washington Wizards.

Wade, naturally, led the way with 24 points, but did so on just 10 field-goal attempts as Miami found plenty of production elsewhere. Rookie forward Michael Beasley collected 19 points and six boards and Udonis Haslem added 13 and 13 as the Heat took the lead early and never let up.

"It's not about scoring, I know that," Wade said. "My presence out there is going to draw double-teams, and it's going to give my teammates the opportunity to get open shots. To me, it's not about scoring, it's about getting these wins."

All-Star Shawn Marion returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with a groin injury to collect 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Heat.

"I feel good," Marion said. "I was able to keep heat on my groin the whole time I was out and when I got out there, I was loose and able to help this team."

Wade sparked a 20-1 run in the third quarter to take complete control of the game after Washington used an 11-3 run to pull within six.

"That's what the great players do, they take over the game," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "Right now, we don't have a great player to do that."

The Wizards cut their deficit to 56-50 in the third quarter on Caron Butler's dunk, but then Wade took over. The 2006 Finals MVP converted a reverse layup, fed Haslem for a layup, drilled a 3-pointer and added a putback dunk to stretch the lead back to double digits, and the Heat never looked back.

"We just didn't play tough enough," Jordan said. "We didn't have the attitude and the personality to really fight back."

Wade went 8-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. He came into the game with a franchise-best four straight 30-point games.

As has been the case lately, the Heat did a great deal of damage on the defensive side - in this case, shutting down Washington stars Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. The two combined for 48 points on Wednesday against Utah to lead the Wizards to their first win of the season but were held to 21 on 10-of-24 shooting in Friday's loss.

"There were three instances with Shawn Marion where he was guarding two guys at once," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I thought he came alive in the third quarter and really sparked us. Overall, I thought it was a great effort defensively. We got to our game."

But the Heat got it done on the offensive end, too. They snagged 18 offensive boards and hit 47 percent (40-of-85) from the field. Beasley brought the crowd to its feet in the first half with a one-handed, putback slam to give Miami a 36-25 lead.

"I don't know how I got that," Beasley said. "I just went up for a rebound and the ball was just in my hand. It felt good, though. I felt young again."

The Heat continued to stay in front throughout the first half and took a 49-36 lead into the break.

The Wizards shot 41 percent (31-of-76) from the floor and were outrebounded, 52-33.