Wade, who was the recipient of an inadvertent elbow from Nets guard Vince Carter in the third quarter, missed just one of his 15 foul shots, as the Heat took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Wade scored half his points in the last 4 1/2 minutes of the final quarter.
"They put the ball in your hands and they call your number, you always want to come through," Wade said. "It’s my time to step up."
Shaquille O’Neal ended with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Antoine Walker contributed 16 points for Miami. The Heat capitalized on six New Jersey turnovers in the fourth quarter, leading to 10 Miami points.
Carter poured in 43 points, an all-time Nets playoff-high, shooting 17- of-34 from the field. Richard Jefferson chipped in 17 for the short-handed Nets, who were without forward Cliff Robinson. He was suspended for five games after violating the terms of the league’s anti-drug program.
"I was just being aggressive and doing what I could to get my team a win," Carter said. "I was just being aggressive and taking what was there. I’m not shooting shots just to get my shots and see how many points I could score."
Game 4 is Sunday at Continental Airlines Arena.
Wade fell to the floor with under nine minutes left in the third quarter as Carter tried to drive to the basket. Play continued as Wade remained sprawled on the floor face down. He then went to the locker room on his own with 8:13 left in the period and returned less than three minutes later.
"He just swept it through real low and once he got by me his arm caught me pretty good in the chin and knocked me silly for a minute," Wade said. "It seemed like I was on the ground for about five minutes and the play never stopped. It’s sore, but I’m all right.
Miami fell behind by eight points at that juncture, 64-56, as the Nets capped a 15-0 run.
"I knew I was coming right back," Wade said. "They just took me back because of the blood. It was a good shot. I just wanted to make sure there was nothing loose."
The Heat used an 8-1 run later in the third to tie the game at 72 going into the fourth.
"We were 1-for-10 to start the third quarter and that’s when we started to play the game better," Heat head coach Pat Riley said. "Dwyane was incredible. Antoine hit some big shots for us. We had three or four real good defensive stops. It was one of those crunch games."
Carter’s driving layup gave the Nets an 81-80 lead with 4:36 left, but Miami responded with an 11-2 run to pull away. Wade’s layup, which turned into a three-point play, started it, and O’Neal’s alley-oop jam off a feed from Wade with 2:17 left was the exclamation point, extending the margin to 91-83.
"I think our turnovers, first and foremost, led to a lot of easy baskets, which pushed the lead up," Carter said. "We were just making silly mistakes on both ends. Once we tried to get it all back, as far as attacking the rim, it was just too late."
The Nets couldn’t get closer than six points after the jam, as Wade kept them at bay by sinking all 11 of his free throws down the stretch.
Jason Kidd had 10 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds for New Jersey.
New Jersey led by as many as six in the opening quarter, but Miami rallied to forge a 27-27 tie going into the second.
Two free throws by Alonzo Mourning capped eight straight points by the Heat, moving them to a 34-27 lead. However, the Nets answered with the next nine points.
The Heat didn’t miss a beat in the second quarter, shooting 53.8 percent. An 18-7 spurt gave Miami a 54-45 lead, with Walker’s three finishing the rally. It was 54-49 at the half.
Game Notes
Kidd moved ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (767), Oscar Robertson (769) and Bill Russell (760) for 16th place on the NBA’s all-time assists list in playoff history...This marks the second time in Carter’s playoff career he’s had at least 40 points. He’s scored 20-plus points in every postseason game this year and 13 straight going back to 2005...Jason Collins had 11 rebounds before fouling out for New Jersey...James Posey had eight points and 10 boards for Miami...The Heat were 34-of-40 at the foul line, while the Nets finished 12-of-20.
Miami Heat 
New Jersey Nets 
