Wade gives the Utah Jazz a severe headache
Well, at least that was the official story from the Heat camp all day. Wade, who led the Heat to a 93-89 victory at EnergySolutions Arena, knew that there was no question about his playing status, severe headache or not.
"I was going to play," said Wade, who finished with a game-high 23 points despite playing with foul trouble most of the night. "Anything I could do to help my guys, I was going to be out there to try to help us get a win."
The night didn't get off to an auspicious start for Wade. His first shot attempt was a missed dunk.
"I just took my eye off it," said Wade of the dunk attempt gone awry. "(The migraine) didn't have nothing to do with it."
Wade also picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter and had to leave the game, as the Jazz jumped out to a lead of as many as 10 points. But Wade showed off his ability to score in bunches the second quarter, putting eight points on the board in less than seven minutes of action as the Heat rallied to take a two-point halftime lead.
The Heat put on a block party all game, swatting 11 Jazz shots on the night. But early in the third quarter second-year center Joel Anthony blocked four Utah attempts during a 16-2 run to open the half.
"(Anthony) was big for us in the third," said Wade. "We finally got some separation and most of it came because of his defensive efforts and it pumped everybody else up and gave us opportunities to get some easy buckets. That was probably his best quarter, so far, of the year."
Despite getting up by as many as 16 points in the second half, the Heat had to hold off a fourth-quarter Jazz rally before handing Utah its second consecutive home loss. That tough fourth quarter will only help Miami in the long run, its young coach believes.
"We got introduced, in the fourth quarter, of playoff intensity on the road," said Spoelstra, the 38-year-old in his first year as Miami's head coach. "It was a real gritty win, to gut it out."
Wade, who led Miami to the NBA title in 2006 before the Heat fell on hard times last season, likes the way his new-look team is coming around.
"This young team we have is growing up," said Wade. "The thing we need to do now is do it consistently and keep it going."
E-mail: lojo@desnews.com
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now players by the name of 'joel anthony' are kicking our cans....how...
sad | Dec. 4, 2008 at 11:26 a.m.
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