NBA Game Summary - Miami at Orlando

04.20.2005

Orlando, FL (Basketball News) - Keyon Dooling scored 19 points and Christian Laettner added 14 points as Miami defeated Orlando, 98-93, in the season finale at TD Waterhouse Arena.

Miami’s Shaquille O’Neal (thigh) and Dwyane Wade (rest) both missed the contest.

Udonis Haslem finished with 12 points for the Heat, who won their third straight and will open first-round playoff action against the New Jersey Nets on Sunday.

"There’s a lot of challenge there," Heat head coach Stan Van Gundy said of New Jersey. "Jason Kidd and Vince Carter are playing very well right now. They are an absolute great defensive team."

Steve Francis and Dwight Howard had 21 points apiece for Orlando, which lost eight of its last nine and finished the season losers in 19-of-24 games. DeShawn Stevenson netted 11 points and Jameer Nelson finished with 10 in the losing effort.

"I was just thinking about the game and the best way to beat Miami," Orlando head coach Chris Jent said. "Hoping that we could keep fresh bodies out there. And then at the end I just figured this core of guys who worked so hard for me I’m just going to see if they can bring one home and they fell a little short."

Miami went into the fourth quarter trailing 78-75, but quickly trimmed it to a one-point contest after a pair of free throws by Dooling.

The Heat continued to hang around, but Orlando quickly pushed its lead back to five, 87-82, moments later after a pair of free throws by Howard with 7:36 remaining.

Trailing 90-84, Miami went on a 10-0 spurt to grab a slim four-point advantage with just under two minutes remaining. Laettner capped the flurry with his jumper, while Steve Smith netted four points in the surge.

After two free throws by Howard, Laettner nailed a foul-line jumper with 49 ticks left to put Miami up for good and erase any hope of a Magic comeback.

"This will be a very significant challenge," Van Gundy added about the series with the Nets. "I think the two best teams in the East over the last two weeks have been Detroit and New Jersey."

The score was tied at 28-28 after the first quarter of play, but the Magic carried a 57-50 lead into the break.

Miami (59-23) improved 16 games upon last year’s record, while the Magic (36-46) won 15 more games...The Heat recorded their second straight season sweep of Orlando...Orlando fell to 24-9 when it allows under 100 points...Miami shot 37-of-69 (54 percent) on field goals and went 19-of-22 from the charity stripe...The Magic shot 43 percent from the floor and hit just 7-of-19 from three-point territory.

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