Wade leads Heat over Nets; Shaq returns

Udonis Haslem scored a career-high 28 points and also pulled down nine rebounds while Antoine Walker added 15 points and 10 boards for the Heat, who have won two in a row and three of their last four games.

"I’m very proud of him (Haslem) because he’s been looking for his opportunity to really be involved into the offense the way he was tonight," said Wade. "He proved and showed that he can be the guy that really can average like 15 (points) and 10 (rebounds) for us. Hopefully, that’s the sign of more to come from him."

Shaquille O’Neal, who returned after missing the last two games with a knee injury, chipped in 13 points and six rebounds.

Vince Carter, who scored his 13,000th point in the third quarter, had a season-high 33 points and Richard Jefferson scored 16 points before leaving in the third quarter with a sprained left ankle. Antoine Wright poured in 16 points for the Nets, who have lost two of their last three games.

"It’s frustrating because we can play better than that, and yet we were still in the game," said Carter. "And we still gave ourselves a chance to win. They’re a good basketball team and sometimes it’s going to be tough and they’re going to make runs, we know that. But we still pride ourselves on being able to defend in the closing minutes of the game and we just didn’t get it done."

Trailing 79-73, the Nets used a 10-0 rally, highlighted by Carter’s three- point play, to pull ahead 85-79 with 8:05 to play.

The Heat responded with a 12-3 rally, capped by Haslem’s three-point play, to move in front 91-88 lead with 3:48 remaining.

A pair of Carter free throws at the other end cut the lead to one with 3:40 on the clock, but that was as close as New Jersey would get.

Miami sealed the win with a 12-4 run, highlighted by threes from Gary Payton and Walker, over the next 1 1/2 minutes for a 103-94 margin.

The Nets led 32-22 after the opening 12 minutes and took a 53-43 advantage into the locker room.

The Heat opened up the third quarter with a 19-6 run, including eight points from Wade, for a 62-59 lead.

O’Neal’s alley-oop pushed the Miami margin to 73-66, but New Jersey countered with a 9-3 surge to close the quarter trailing by one, 76-75. The Heat outscored the Nets 33-22 in the stanza.

Game Notes

Each team shot 48 percent from the field...New Jersey’s Jason Kidd finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and nine assists...Payton ended with 16 points and five assists...The Nets turned the ball over 17 times...Miami scored 50 points in the paint...The Heat have won the last two meetings, including a 91-85 victory last Friday in Miami...New Jersey’s Nenad Krstic had 12 points and 11 boards...Wade has scored in double-figures in 135 of his last 136 games. He became the fastest player in franchise history to reach the 5,000 point plateau. Wade (218 games) surpassed teammate Alonzo Mourning, who accomplished the feat in 242 contests.