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Friday, December 26, 2003
Rookie Mistakes
Posted by WIZfan Webmaster
MIAMI, Dec. 23 (Ticker) -- Rookie Dwyane Wade scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Miami Heat defeated the Washington Wizards, 79-72, for their fifth straight home win.
It was the 11th 20-point game of the season for Wade, who became the first Miami rookie to score at least 20 in six consecutive games. He was coming off a career-high 33-point effort in Sunday's 104-93 victory over Golden State.
"I guess I'm in a December groove and I hope it continues," Wade said. "The biggest thing is our winning percentage when I score 20 points."
Miami won for just the second time in 15 games when trailing after three quarters. The home winning streak is its longest since a nine-game run during the 2000-01 season.
Miami scored just 10 points in the second quarter, 16 in the third and trailed, 52-50 entering the final period. But Rasual Butler's three-pointer put the Heat ahead to stay, 59-58, with 8:52 remaining and triggered a 15-7 spurt.
A driving layup by Wade made it 71-63 with 4:44 to play.
"We didn't play the game very well tonight," Miami coach Stan Van Gundy said. "They just missed some shots and we made some shots. Our execution was not real good. For three quarters, I thought Washington played harder and better than we did."
After Butler's three-pointer put the Heat ahead, Wade excited the crowd with a dunk that made it 61-58.
"I've been working with him on that," Gundy joked. "I've been teaching him in practice."
Rafer Alston also was key for Miami down the stretch, scoring 10 of his 11 points in the fourth quarter. He converted two straight steals into a pair of free throws and a layup to give the Heat a 77-69 cushion with 1:47 to go.
The Wizards had gotten within 73-69 on a jumper by Jared Jeffries with 2:48 remaining.
"Our energy level was great in the fourth quarter," Van Gundy added. "I don't know where it was for the first three quarters."
Larry Hughes scored 16 points and Jeffries added 14 for Washington, which shot under 37 percent (29-of-79) from the field and lost for the 10th time in 12 games.
"We turned the ball over at critical times," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "We needed to finish some attempts in the paint and we had some open jumpers we didn't make."
Miami appeared ready to blow out the Wizards, building a 24-11 lead on Caron Butler's layup in the final minute of the first quarter. But the Heat did not score for the final 4:13 of the half as the Wizards closed to 34-30 at intermission.
"We never got in a rhythm," Jeffries said.
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