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Wade gets 27, Heat hold off Lakers
(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2010-03-06 08:05
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MIAMI - Jermaine O'Neal called it, telling teammates in overtime that the next time someone drove the lane he would be there to take the charge.
That someone was Kobe Bryant.
And O'Neal delivered on his vow.
O'Neal stood his ground with 18.7 seconds left in the extra session and Bryant was whistled for an offensive foul. It was the final turning point as the Miami Heat found a way to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 114-111 in the NBA's wildest back-and-forth game this season.
There were 19 ties and 31 lead changes, two more than any game in the league in 2009-10 and Miami's center stood tallest at the end.
"He was there. He stepped up," said Dwyane Wade, who led the Heat with 27 points and 14 assists. "I saw it coming the whole way. That's J.O. - J.O. not only protects the basket by being a shotblocker but he also protects it because he can take charges. And that's great. Everybody did their job tonight."
Bryant went left, looking for a layup that would have tied the game. Instead, O'Neal drew his team-best 19th charge of the season, Carlos Arroyo hit two free throws 0.3 seconds later to make it a two-possession game and Miami held on, winning back-to-back home games for the first time since mid-January.
Quentin Richardson scored a season-high 25 points for the Heat, who got 17 from Arroyo, 13 from O'Neal and a 12-point, 11-rebound effort from Udonis Haslem.
"We have big-moment, big-player type guys that love to step up to a big challenge like this and aren't afraid of the moment," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Obviously, Dwyane is like that, Jermaine is like that. Udonis, Quentin will hit big shots. A lot of times it's a fight and an argument to see who's going to shoot the ball. They're not running from it. They want the moment."
Bryant scored 39 points, including the overtime-forcing jumper for the Lakers, who got 14 points from Derek Fisher and 13 points and 11 rebounds from Lamar Odom.
It wasn't the offensive foul late that seemed to raise the ire of Lakers coach Phil Jackson but rather a foul call that he thought Bryant earned against Wade with a half-minute left in regulation and Los Angeles up by one.
Bryant shot what was ruled an airball; the Lakers insisted Bryant was fouled. Instead, Richardson came down and hit a 3-pointer to put Miami up 99-97 with 11.1 seconds left in regulation.
"I'm sure he didn't shoot an airball. That's unconscionable that that call can't be made at that point in the game because that's a shooter and there it is," Jackson said. "But they didn't call it and he had to do another miracle to come back and tie the game. But in the overtime, we had our chances."
