Wade’s Strong Third Quarter Leads Heat Past Wizards

With the Washington Wizards playing without John Wall, Miami handled them fairly easily, winning 105-94.  The Heat did this with a balanced offensive attack and a strong third quarter, when Dwyane Wade led them to a 13 point lead which they did not relinquish the rest of the game.

With 10:30 left in the third quarter, Miami was leading by only 6 points, 55-49, when Wade stepped up and took charge.  In the next 6 minutes Wade scored 15 points - through jumpers, driving layups, and free throws – and gave Miami a 76-63 lead which they would not give up en route to winning by 11 points.  

The Heat changed their offensive setup in many possessions - having Wade and James line up on opposite sides of the court more often than they have been, giving both players more space to work with.  As a result, they each had more room to drive and go for layups or pass the ball out to the open man, and good things came of it.

Wade finished with 26 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.  Twenty-two of Wade’s 26 points came in the second half as the Heat looked to him to lead them to victory.  LeBron James, meanwhile, appeared to lead the team in the first half, as he scored 20 points in the first 24 minutes of the game.  James finished with 30 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists on the game, but also 7 turnovers.

"Slowly but surely I'm starting to learn how D-Wade manages his game," James said. "He always likes to try to get a feel for the game early. If he's trying to get a feel for the game early, then I can't be trying to get a feel for the game early, either. I think I'm starting to feel the things out, just to kind of come out aggressive from the beginning and see what happens and then let D-Wade do what he does."  

“Tonight was probably the second time this year we both felt comfortable with each other taking over and not worrying about when we going to get a shot,” Wade said.

Chris Bosh also contributed to the win, with 20 points and 7 rebounds.  The big three of Wade, James, and Bosh combined for 35 free throw attempts, of which they made 29, and 76 of the team’s 105 points.