Miami Heat Team Report - February 22

(Basketball News) - Dwyane Wade scored 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Miami Heat to their fourth straight win after a 97-81 victory over the Denver Nuggets at AmericanAirlines Arena on Saturday.

Lamar Odom added 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat, who won the first three installments of their four-game homestand. Udonis Haslem came off the bench and contributed 12 points and 10 boards in the victory, Miami’s 25th win of the season, tying last year’s total.

Miami trailed by five, 45-40, at the half, but dominated the third quarter to take control of the contest. With the score at 54-48 several minutes into the third, the Heat proceeded to post a 27-12 burst to close out the quarter.

Aggressive play allowed Miami to continuously get to the free throw line in the decisive period, hitting 13-of-16 attempts from the stripe. Odom led the way with 12 points in the quarter while making five of his six free throw tries. Caron Butler made all four of his shots from the charity stripe during the period as well, helping Miami claim a 75-66 advantage after three quarters of play. The Heat outscored the Nuggets 35-21 in the third quarter.

With 10 of the first 14 points of the fourth quarter, Miami’s lead ballooned to 15 points at 85-70. Haslem scored eight points during the run for the Heat. Denver was never able to get back into the contest after falling behind by double digits.

The Heat are off until Monday when they host the Portland Trail Blazers.