Shaq and Wade lead way as Heat scorch Bucks

Dwyane Wade totaled 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, as the Heat snapped a two-game skid, but won for the 19th time in their last 24 games. Udonis Haslem posted 17 points for Miami. Antoine Walker and Derek Anderson each added 14 points, while Gary Payton scored 13 in the victory.

Miami, which shot 61.6 percent from the field, holds a 3 1/2 game lead on New Jersey for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

"It’s in our hands," Heat head coach Pat Riley said. "I’m not looking at numbers. I’m not looking at who they are playing."

Charlie Bell came off the bench for a career-high 29 points for the Bucks, who fell 1 1/2 games behind Washington for the fifth spot in the East. Michael Redd was limited to 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting for Milwaukee, which also got 13 points and seven rebounds from Toni Kukoc.

"They came out playing aggressive and going inside, attacking the basket and we didn’t have an answer for it tonight," Bell said. "It was one of those nights when nothing goes right."

The Heat led from start-to-finish, scoring the game’s first 13 points. Shaq’s layup capped the spurt nearly halfway through the quarter and Miami was on top, 31-14 after 12 minutes.

The Bucks closed within 47-40 with 3:24 left until halftime following a three- pointer from Kukoc, but Miami widened the margin to 55-43 at the break.

A jam from Wade moved the Heat to a 71-48 bulge with 8:06 left in the third, and the game was a rout from there. Miami was in front 89-69 going into the fourth and led by as many as 26.

"When we play like this the outcome is usually good," O’Neal said. "We let a lot of games slip away. This is no time to worry; no time to panic. We just have to keep playing like this."

Game Notes

Wade passed Sherman Douglas for third place on Miami’s all-time assists list...Miami has won eight of the last nine meetings...The 115 points by Miami were the most in the series by the Heat since March 22, 1996, when they had 122.