With five minutes and 28 seconds left in the Miami Heat’s game against the Portland Trail-Blazers, Dorell Wright had just made a layup to put the Heat ahead, 87-81. Now with some breathing room, Miami could pull out victorious to win its third straight game. But it didn’t.
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Blazers coach Nate McMillan called a timeout after Wright’s layup; his team subsequently went on a run to win the game. Andre Miller made a layup of his own, and after the Heat came up empty on the other side of the court, Brandon Roy completed a three-point play. Suddenly, Miami’s lead was just 87-86, and there were still more than four minutes left.
Jermaine O’Neal and Quentin Richardson made field goals to keep things even, but the last two minutes were disheartening for the Heat. After Roy made a jumper with 99 seconds left to put Portland up 94-92, Dwyane Wade attempted an ill-advised three-pointer that failed to go in. He later fouled Miller on the Blazers’ ensuing possession, and the veteran made both free throws. Roy later made a three-pointer with 28 seconds left to put in the dagger. It was 99-92. The Blazers won by a final score of 102-95.
Roy and Wade both had 28 points, but Wade took 31 shots to get that far. Roy only had to take 14; he shot a sizzling 11-of-14 from the field and was a perfect five-for-five from downtown. Wade did have 10 assists, but was uneven throughout the night. Perhaps his back spasms and sore right wrist have something to do with it.
Quentin Richardson had 22 points and did it on a perfect seven-for-seven shooting from the field. All of his field goals came from beyond the arc. Richardson’s seven triples tied a Heat record, and the veteran small forward also went to the free-throw line for the first time this season at the AmericanAirlines Arena.
Michael Beasley shot 7-of-13 from the field for 17 points. Beasley also grabbed eight rebounds and a blocked shot. He more than held his own against LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 23 points but did it on 10-of-23 shooting.
Jermaine O’Neal had 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and grabbed six rebounds. Carlos Arroyo, again getting the nod for the starting position, provided some good ball-handling. Arroyo’s ball-handling and play-making has been consistent ever since he received the starting role. The problem for Miami was that outside of Wade, Richardson, Beasley and O’Neal, no one managed to score more than four points.
Wade alone took 39 percent of Miami’s shots. That’s not a problem when he is on fire from the field, but it is a big problem when he is shooting 13-of-31. O’Neal should have gotten more plays set up for him, especially considering that Greg Oden is out for the season. Wright had scored in double figures for four of the past five games coming into Sunday night’s game. Why did he only attempt six shots? Although Udonis Haslem contributed with his eight rebounds, he only attempted two field goals.
This is definitely a tough loss to swallow. Miami hung in tough, but Wade could not answer Roy’s fourth-quarter heroics down the stretch. The Heat can now do no better than 3-3 on its six-game home-stand. Its final game of the home-stand is Wednesday night against Utah.
