NBA Notebook | Wade, Heat stay hot in 2nd straight win
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - A return of the usual Dwyane Wade, combined with a glimpse of the old Penny Hardaway.
Suddenly, the Miami Heat doesn’t look so bad anymore.
Wade scored 23 points, Hardaway added 16 in his best game since returning to the NBA, and the Heat beat the New Jersey Nets 91-87 Saturday night for its second victory of the season.
Shaquille O’Neal had 18 points for the Heat (2-8), which snapped a three-game skid and sent the Nets to their fifth consecutive loss. Hardaway was 6 for 6 from the field, making three three-pointers in the fourth quarter, as Miami turned in another improved effort after nearly beating undefeated Boston on Friday.
“Finally, tonight it all came together. I’ve been working so hard,” Hardaway said. “These last two games are huge because our confidence is at another level. We may be the most confident team at 2 and 8 in the history of the NBA. We know where we’re going. We’ve got our leader back, and we’re taking great strides in the right direction.”
Wade was only 4 for 17 from the floor in his third game of the season, but made 15 of 20 free throws before a clinching jumper in the final second. He joked that he would sleep all day today after playing 38 minutes Friday and 39 Saturday.
“I’m not where I want to be but I’m happy to be playing and happy to help make a difference with my teammates,” he said.
Rookie Sean Williams scored a season-high 22 points in his first career start for the Nets, playing without injured All-Star Vince Carter. Jason Kidd had 16 points and 15 assists, but the Nets couldn’t overcome a season-high 27 turnovers.
Mavs edge Grizzlies
DALLAS - Dallas needed late-game heroics from Josh Howard and Dirk Nowitzki to outlast stubborn Memphis and remain unbeaten at home.
Howard matched his season high with 27 points, six during a key fourth-quarter stretch, and Nowitzki had 21, including two free throws with 8 seconds left, in the Mavericks’ 108-105 victory over the Grizzlies.
“They were tough,” Dallas’ Jason Terry said. “They’re a gritty team. We didn’t play well tonight, but we came away with the win and are on to our next task.”
Mike Miller led the Grizzlies with 23 points, Hakim Warrick had 17 and Pau Gasol had 15. Memphis has lost three in a row.
The Mavericks, who began the night with an NBA-leading free-throw percentage of 84, missed 12 of 40 foul shots but managed to hang on.
“We’ll keep working on that,” coach Avery Johnson said of the poor performance from the free-throw line. “We have really solid free-throw shooters, but since I mentioned our free-throw stats the other day, we’ve been going down.”
Notes
• Hornets PG Chris Paul missed Saturday’s game at Minnesota with a sprained right ankle, and coach Byron Scott said Paul would likely miss a couple more games as a precaution.
“It’s still tender, he has some pain,” Scott said. “So, there’s no need to - in the 11th game of the season - to risk it.”
Paul was hurt in Friday’s overtime victory at Memphis when he rolled his ankle on Pau Gasol’s foot in the third quarter.
• Wizards G Gilbert Arenas missed Saturday’s game against Portland Trail Blazers because of a sore left knee.
• Spurs star Tim Duncan is listed as a center on the All-Star ballot after years at forward. That has upset some, since chances are he will not get voted in as a starter ahead of China’s Yao Ming, who gets millions of votes from the Far East.
This has been a long-term issue for the versatile Duncan. Last season, the NBA accepted first-team All-NBA votes for Duncan at both forward and center.
The Akron Beacon-Journal
contributed to this report.