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Balanced Heat hang another loss on Wizards

Nov 19, 2008 - 5:08 AM By Tim Hipps PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The Miami Heat displayed great ball movement throughout the game and defensive stops down the stretch for a 94-87 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.

Dwyane Wade scored 19 points to lead four guards in double figures as the Heat continued their domination in Washington, where Miami has won a franchise-best 25 road games.

Wade also had 10 assists and six rebounds, while Mario Chalmers added 15 points, Daequan Cook 13 and Chris Quinn 10.

Center Udonis Haslem had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, which got 12 points and nine boards from forward Shawn Marion.

"We love to have games like this, where everybody is in double figures all across the board," Wade said. "That means a great team. That's kind of how the Lakers are, they're a great team and all the guys are solid across the board so Kobe doesn't have to do that much this year. That's what we want to do."

The Wizards, who trailed by 14 points in the third quarter, pulled within 90-87 on Antawn Jamison's follow with 2:04 remaining. After Wade blocked Jamison's jumper, the Wizards inbounded the ball on the baseline with just one second remaining on the shot clock. Caron Butler missed a jumper, but Jamison was there for the putback.

Marion's shot off the glass gave Miami a 92-87 lead with 1:07 left. After Haslem blocked the shot of Wizards rookie JaVale McGee, Wade made an open-court steal and drew a clear-path-to-the-basket foul on DeShawn Stevenson and made the free throws to secure the victory.

"That's what we wanted to do on the road is close a game defensively," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I think we went 1-for-9 during that stretch and we couldn't get a bucket to go down, but to be able to rely on our defense. Those guys made incredible plays where we actually were beat on the play and they came in with their effort and their talent to be able to make a play on the ball.

"We went through a drought, and that's happened to us on the road, but somehow we were able to find a way to dig out some possessions defensively to be able to secure the win. That's the part I was pleased about the most because so far in our road games we haven't been able to quite buckle down and get those stops necessary to close a game."

Wade had four points as the Heat opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run for a 51-41 lead. Haslem and Michael Beasley added buckets to extend the run to 12-0 before Washington guard DeShawn Stevenson made two free throws.

The Wizards did not make a field goal in the third until McGee's layup with 8:02 remaining in the period.

Jamison led the Wizards with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Butler added 21 points and 12 boards.

"I'm just going out there and playing hard and that's what I ask of my teammates," Jamison said. "You have to get the job done. I think a lot of guys are relying on getting it done offensively and that's not the case whatsoever. We need guys to play defense and play hard, and the offense will take care of itself.

"We got the playing hard part down - we played hard tonight - we just didn't get the job done."

Wade scored Miami's last six points of the first half, including a tip-in of his own miss with four seconds left, and the Heat led, 43-41, at the break.

"I think any team is going to be successful offensively if you get 27 assists and six guys in double figures," Spoelstra said. "It doesn't always work out that way, but we certainly want to try and balance our attack a little bit. Dwyane will always be our closer and our go-to guy, but the more we can get guys involved and the more we can get to our second and third options on the weak side, I think we can be a little bit more dangerous."

Quinn scored the Heat's last five points of the first quarter and Miami led, 23-17, after one. Marion made back-to-back buckets as the Heat took an 8-2 lead.

"I was being active and definitely making myself aware of where I was at, and my team was looking for me. I came out aggressive when the game started and I think that helped everybody else get aggressive and opened up a lot of things for us."

Jamison had 13 points and six rebounds in the first half for the Wizards, who got 10 points in the second quarter from reserve guard Nick Young.

The Wizards dropped to 1-7.

"It was almost deja vu of the entire season for us," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "They made shots and plays and we missed shots and didn't make plays. It is a credit to our guys that we fought and were in the game. We just couldn't pull it out.

"It is eight games into the season and we have to stay positive. We also have to be realistic about things and that is where we are."