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Wade fabulous in return vs. Memphis

Dec 17, 2006 - 4:49 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- Dwyane Wade made the Memphis Grizzlies feel like they just had their teeth pulled.

Wade returned from a trip to the dentist to score a season-high 41 points as the Miami Heat posted a 98-90 victory against the sliding Memphis Grizzlies, who have lost six straight games.

Jason Kapono scored 13 points and Dorell Wright had 10 and a career-high 16 rebounds for the Heat, who dropped both games while Wade recuperated from having two wisdom teeth pulled Tuesday.

"He had fresh legs," Miami coach Pat Riley said. "He came in yesterday and worked out and had a really good cardio workout. It's amazing what a couple of days will do for a guy. He felt refreshed and obviously it showed."

Wade scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting as the Heat took a 54-47 lead into halftime.

"I came out early and got some shooting in and tried to get in a rhythm and I think that helped once the game started," Wade said. "I'm just happy to be able to move forward and play basketball again.

"Sometimes this can become like a business, but when you are away from it for a while you realize how much you miss the passion of the game."

Wade keyed a decisive 13-2 run bridging the final two periods that gave Miami an 87-71 lead just three minutes into the fourth quarter.

The 2006 Finals MVP had a free throw, three-point play and a fabulous runner off a spin move before capping the spurt with a follow shot. Memphis did not get the deficit under double digits until the final minute.

"He was rested and he was attacking," Memphis guard Dahntay Jones said. "Once he's in that mode, they keep going to him. When you have the green light, a lot of great things can happen. You can either fail or you can be great he's great."

Wade finished 15-of-24 from the floor, 11-of-14 from the line and added seven assists, five rebounds and five steals.

"I guess the lesson is don't catch (Dwyane) Wade when he has had a few days off from basketball," Memphis coach Mike Fratello said. "He was pretty refreshed."

Mike Miller had 20 points and eight assists and Hakim Warrick added 20 for the Grizzlies, who have lost nine of 10 to fall to a league-worst 5-19. They failed to score 100 points for the 10th straight game.

"We want Ws right now. Bottom line, we want a win we have a hard time doing that right now but we're getting better," Jones said. "If you can get better while losing, that's what we're doing."

All-Star forward Pau Gasol, who returned Friday against Atlanta after missing the first 22 games recovering from a broken left foot, scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 16 minutes.

"(I felt) better, definitely better," Gasol said. "My legs were dealing with the back to back, and I was a little sore. I felt much better, I had better rhythm, faster reacting better and I felt good.