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Wade stellar again as Heat top Raptors

Mar 7, 2009 - 4:27 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Dwyane Wade continued his torrid scoring pace with 42 points as the Miami Heat posted back-to-back wins for the first time since January with a 108-102 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday.

Michael Beasley added 12 points and three players chipped in 10 apiece for the Heat, who picked up their first road win since February 12.

Wade, who entered the game leading the NBA in scoring at 29.3 points per game, shot 17-of-23 in scoring over 35 points for the fourth straight game. The MVP candidate added eight assists and six rebounds while draining three 3-pointers.

"Back in high school and back in college when I shot over 50 percent for my career," Wade said. "Right now I am in a groove and my jump shot is going like it is I get more and more confident, so hopefully I can keep it up."

"Well he's been on one of those runs now since all-star break," Miami coach Eric Spoelstra said of Wade. "He understands the urgency right now for our team and where we want to go and what we have ahead of us. The next 21 games is a beast of a schedule and this was a key game for us."

Chris Bosh kept pace with Wade for a while, finishing with 34 points to lead the Raptors, who saw their losing streak reach four games.

"I was trying to be aggressive," Bosh said. "I was trying to win the basketball game. I was trying to take good shots and keep my teammates involved."

Miami used a 34-point second quarter to surge to a 56-50 lead at the break. Wade scored 21 points in the first half and the Heat shot 55 percent (23-of-42).

"That's what he does," Bosh said of Wade. "He's very difficult to stop and you really have to guard him with the whole team, pretty much. He really got off when he started hitting his jump shots and once he starts that he's problems."

"This is probably one of, if not the most efficient stretches (Wade's) ever been on in terms of scoring the basketball, directing the offence and getting other people involved," Spoelstra said. "But also, I thought he made a tremendous effort defensively."

Toronto failed to make up any ground and could not respond as Miami pushed the lead to 97-82 on Mario Chalmers' 3-pointer with 6:06 remaining in the game.

Jermaine O'Neal, who was traded from the Raptors to the Heat prior to the trade deadline last month, managed eight points on 4-of-13 shooting. Shawn Marion, who went from Miami to Toronto in the same deal, managed 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

Jamario Moon, who went from Toronto to Miami in the same trade, added five points and five rebounds.

"(O'Neal and Moon) played well," Spoelstra said. "They have had a tremendous impact on our team. Our offensive numbers have gone way up and it's a direct contribution from them.

"Tonight Jermaine got banged in the knee and didn't have much lift in the second half, so we went with a different lineup. Jamario gave us some great minutes defensively, he's been closing games for us, but this group we had out there tonight was going well so we just keft them out there."