NBA Game Summary - New Jersey at Miami

03.12.2005

Miami, FL (Basketball News) - Eddie Jones scored 18 points and Shaquille O’Neal contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds, as the Miami Heat rolled to a 90-65 victory over the New Jersey Nets at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Damon Jones also netted 15 points and Dwyane Wade finished with 13 points and six boards for Miami, which has won eight in a row and 15 of its last 17 contests.

The Heat held New Jersey to 29.7 percent shooting (22-of-74) and outscored the Nets 53-26 in the second half.

Vince Carter paced New Jersey with 20 points. Nenad Krstic added 12 points for the Nets, who have dropped four of their last five games.

Two free throws by Carter with 8:44 remaining in the third quarter gave New Jersey a 45-42 advantage.

Shandon Anderson then drained a three-pointer to ignite a 16-3 spurt for Miami that staked the Heat to a 58-48 lead with 4:12 left in the period. The Heat continued to pull away and Eddie Jones’ three-pointer at the buzzer made it 70-55. Eddie Jones totaled 14 points in the third stanza.

"With 2:59 left in the third quarter it was an eight-point game, eight becomes 15 at the end of the third and so on and so forth," said Nets head coach Lawrence Frank. "We had some defensive slippage but obviously had a hard time making a shot."

The Heat then put the game away over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, outscoring New Jersey 13-4 to grab a commanding 83-59 advantage. Wade scored seven points during the run.

Miami would lead by as many as 30 points at 90-60 following two free throws by Anderson with two minutes left.

The Nets used an 11-2 run in the first quarter to take a 15-9 lead. The Heat then scored 13 of the final 15 points of the period and held a 22-17 advantage after 12 minutes. Damon Jones had seven points during the late surge.

Miami still led by three with 7:20 left in the second quarter, but New Jersey went on an 11-5 run, keyed by Travis Best’s three-pointer, to move back in front 36-33.

The Nets eventually carried a 39-37 lead into the locker room.

The Heat have won 12 straight at home and improved to 27-5 as the host this season...It marked a season-low in points for a Miami opponent...The Nets were only 6-of-35 from the floor in the second half. The six field goals were the fewest ever by a Heat opponent in the second half...The Heat improved to 3-0 versus New Jersey this season and have won the last five meetings between the two teams.

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