AP News, January 11th, 2007
Dwyane Wade scored 14 of his 29 points in the final 8 minutes, rallying the Miami Heat past the Seattle SuperSonics 107-103 Wednesday night.
Wade missed four of five shots to start the fourth, then found ways to score as Miami won its second straight after a five-game skid.
Jason Kapono added 19 points and former Sonics star Gary Payton added 14 off the bench for the Heat.
Ray Allen led Seattle with 29 points and Chris Wilcox added 28 points and 13 rebounds, but the Sonics lost their sixth straight and eight in nine games.
Wade made 8 of 16 shots and was 13-for-17 at the free-throw line in his second game back after missing four games with a sprained right wrist.
Down 89-86, the Heat scored seven of the next nine points, all at the free-throw line. Earl Watson then airballed a desperation 3-pointer as the shot clock expired and Wade hit a 15-footer to give Miami a 93-91 lead.
With the score tied at 93, Wade made a 21-footer with Watson in his face. Then, after two free throws by Wilcox throws drew Seattle even again, Wade dribbled through the Sonics' defense and banked in a left-handed scoop shot. Two more free throws by Wade and the Heat lead was four.
Wilcox scored again, but Alonzo Mourning made a pair of free throws and Allen's one-hander in the lane bounced off the back of the rim with under a minute remaining. Allen made a pair of 3s in the closing seconds for the final margin.
Ron Rothstein improved to 2-2 as Miami's interim coach while Pat Riley is on medical leave, and bested Seattle assistant Gordon Chiesa.
Chiesa handled head coaching duties for the first time in his career as an NBA assistant, while Bob Hill stayed home recovering from a respiratory infection. Hill hopes to be able to coach Friday when Seattle hosts Utah.
Wade patiently distributed in the first half, getting Jason Williams and Kapono involved in the offense. They combined for 20 first-half points, while Wade handed out nine assists and made just one field goal.
Combined with Payton's 10 points, the Heat stayed close enough for Wade to take over in the third.
Wade scored eight of Miami's first 11 points of the half, keying a 12-4 run that gave Miami a 69-67 lead midway through the quarter its first lead since 8-6.
Wade scored 25 in the second half and finished with 13 assists. Williams scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half and Udonis Haslem added 13.
Nick Collison scored 21 points and had nine rebounds for Seattle before fouling out, backing up his career-high 29-point, 21-rebound effort of Tuesday night against Phoenix.
Notes:@ Seattle sent rookie C Mouhamed Sene to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Developmental League. Sene had played in just 16 games and was averaging 0.9 points and 1.1 rebounds. ... Seattle, who has lost 12 straight away from home, doesn't play another road game until Jan. 30 at Dallas.
