NBA Game Summary - San Antonio at Miami

Miami, FL (Basketball News) - Dwyane Wade scored a game-high 28, Shaquille O’Neal added 27 and Miami held off San Antonio, 96-92, in a battle of conference heavyweights at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Eddie Jones, who suffered a fractured left index finger in the first quarter, ended with 12 points in 33 minutes, while Damon Jones provided a spark with 11 points, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc for the Heat, who have won six in a row and nine of their last 10 contests.

"It was a good win for us," said O’Neal. "They (San Antonio) are on of the elite teams in this league, and they played very well. We executed well down the stretch to pull this one out."

Miami shot a scorching 52 percent from the floor in the win, while also winning the battle of the glass, 41-38.

Manu Ginobili paced the Spurs with 24 points. Tony Parker added 22 and Tim Duncan collected 20 points with nine rebounds for San Antonio, which has dropped two of three.

"It’s a disappointing loss," said Duncan. "I thought we played hard. We got some great play out of Manu (Ginobili) and Tony (Parker). I wish I could have done a little more."

Heading into the fourth, Miami held a slim 71-70 edge. The final frame was tight throughout until the Heat claimed a 87-85 lead on Damon Jones’ three at the 3:04 mark of the contest. The Heat’s lead would then grow to 93-87 on Wade’s bucket with 1:33 remaining in the game.

San Antonio, though, trimmed the deficit to three, 93-90, on Ginobili’s three- point play just 18 seconds later, but that was as close as the Spurs would get the rest of the way.

Ginobili, who ended 8-of-17 from the floor, would later miss a layup and Shandon Anderson gathered the rebound and was immediately fouled. The veteran guard sank 1-of-2 from the line to make it 96-92 with 6.9 seconds left, effectively sealing the contest.

"It was a good game," San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich said. We would have rather won than lost. I thought our guys played well."

San Antonio held a slim 22-19 lead after 12 minutes of action. Miami, though, gained the lead in the opening stages of the second thanks to a quick 10-4 surge to open the frame. The run was capped by Rasual Butler’s three-pointer, staking the home team to a 29-26 lead with under eight minutes remaining in the stanza.

However, the Spurs would regain the lead as Parker drained a trey from the corner with less than a second to go in the half, giving San Antonio a 42-41 lead at the break.

O’Neal paced the Heat with 11 points, while Duncan was limited to just three points for the Spurs, but it was Parker and Ginobili who each picked up the slack for San Antonio. Both guards combined for 28 points with Parker netting 15 and Ginobili adding 13 after the first 24 minutes of play.

"It was a very big win four us, especially against the best team in the NBA right now," said Wade. "It was a good, hard-fought game and I am glad we came out on top."

Miami regained the lead in the third quarter on Eddie Jones’ three-pointer from the corner, making it 51-49 with under nine minutes left in the frame. The rest of the stanza was tightly contested with Miami holding a one-point edge heading into the fourth.