NBA Game Summary - Miami at New Jersey

03.3.2005

East Rutherford, NJ (Basketball News) - Dwyane Wade poured in 27 points, dished out eight assists and hauled down six rebounds to lead Miami over New Jersey, 106-90, at the Continental Airlines Arena.

Shaquille O’Neal, who had missed Miami’s last three contests with a left knee injury, ended with 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Heat, who have won three in a row. Eddie Jones added 15 points and Udonis Haslem chipped in 13 in the win.

"It felt pretty good out there being with the guys," said O’Neal. "My knee felt pretty good."

Miami also welcomed center Alonzo Mourning, who was signed by the club on Tuesday. However, the veteran only saw two minutes in garbage time against his former team. Mourning, a seven-time All-Star, played 12 games for the Nets in 2003-04 and 18 this season.

Vince Carter paced the Nets with 27 points. Ron Mercer came off the bench to score 12, while Nenad Krstic contributed 11 in the loss.

"We gave up a lot of layups," said Carter. "We gave up 32 points in the third quarter."

Jason Kidd ended with 10 points for New Jersey.

Trailing 48-44 at the start of the third, Miami took control of the contest for good. The Heat eventually took a 54-53 lead on Jones’ trey with under 10 minutes left in the period. The Heat’s margin grew to six, 63-57, on Haslem’s jumper with 5:48 remaining in the quarter and then 76-65 heading into the fourth.

The Heat started to pull away in the final quarter. Michael Doleac’s baseline jumper staked Miami to an 81-70 lead with under 10 minutes left in the contest. Soon after, Miami sealed the game as the margin grew to 92-79 on Jones’ three-pointer from the top of the key with around six minutes to go.

"Miami kept on coming," said New Jersey head coach Lawrence Frank. "They put a lot of pressure on us."

New Jersey never recovered from that point on.

Carter almost single-handedly outscored the Heat, ending the opening quarter with 13 points as New Jersey owned a 24-15 lead after 12 minutes of action.

The Nets looked for some breathing room midway through the second quarter. Mercer’s jumper staked the Nets to a seemingly comfortable 39-25 lead.

However, Miami stormed back courtesy of a 19-9 burst to close out the half and pull within 48-44 as both teams headed into the locker room.

Carter totaled 19 points for the Nets, while O’Neal led the Heat with 13 points at the break.

Miami ended 4-of-12 from beyond the arc, while the Nets ended 7-of-21...The Heat finished 28-of-38 from the line...Doleac netted eight points for the Heat.

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