The AP reports: A year ago, the Miami Heat couldn’t wait to finish a horrendous, injury-plagued season. Now Dwyane Wade and his young teammates plan to be playing deep into the spring thanks to one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history. As usual, Wade led the Heat’s latest milestone, scoring 27 points and dishing out 10 assists on Friday night as Miami clinched a playoff berth with a 97-92 comeback victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. A year after going 15-67, the Heat joined the 1968-69 San Diego Rockets—a team that included Heat president Pat Riley—as the second NBA team to reach the postseason after winning 15 or fewer games the year before. The Rockets also recovered from a 15-67 disaster.
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Dirk scores 30, Mavs beat Heat 98-96
The AP reports: With a few seconds left and the Miami Heat down only one point, Dwyane Wade saw teammate Mario Chalmers snatch a rebound and asked for the ball. He would’ve settled for a timeout. Instead, the rookie raced down the court and charged into Dallas forward Josh Howard with 2.3 seconds left. The Mavericks padded the lead with a free throw in the final ticks to pull out a 98-96 victory Wednesday night in a game that often was as intense as the 2006 NBA finals matchup between these clubs… Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points and Howard had 20 points, eight rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists in his second game since missing 11 straight with an ankle problem… “There was a lot of miscommunication going on,” said Wade, who had 23 points and six assists, but wasn’t able to pull off any late-game heroics, in part because of stiff defense by Jason Kidd.
Howard leads Magic past Heat, spoiling Zo’s night
The AP reports: On the night Miami retired Alonzo Mourning’s number, Orlando’s big man wrecked the party. Dwight Howard scored 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, passing Wilt Chamberlain as the youngest NBA player to reach the 5,000-board mark, and the Magic kept their grip on the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference by beating the Heat 101-95 on Monday night. Rashard Lewis scored 21 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:32 remaining for Orlando (55-18), which stayed five games behind Cleveland and percentage points ahead of defending champion Boston in the East race… Dwyane Wade scored 13 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter for the Heat (39-35), whose edge over Philadelphia for the East’s No. 5 seed was trimmed to one game, despite the lift that came from seeing Mourning’s jersey being retired… Backup point guard Luther Head broke his left hand during the game and will miss four to six weeks, meaning there likely will be no way he’s available for Miami’s first-round playoff series.
Wade gets 27, Heat run out to big lead, beat Bucks
The AP reports: At this point, milestones mean little to Udonis Haslem. He’s too busy getting his game in postseason form. Dwyane Wade scored 27 points, Haslem had 16 points and 12 rebounds for his 100th career double-double, and the Miami Heat improved their stance in the Eastern Conference playoff chase by beating the reeling Milwaukee Bucks 102-85 on Saturday night. James Jones and Michael Beasley each scored 11 and Jermaine O’Neal added 10 for the Heat, who snapped a two-game losing streak… Richard Jefferson scored 32 and Dan Gadzuric had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Milwaukee, which lost its fifth straight. The Bucks’ bench was outscored 26-0 in the first half, 37-14 in the game, and no Milwaukee reserve scored until Luc Richard Mbah a Moute’s free throws with 5.2 seconds left in the third quarter.
Salmons scores 27, Bulls beat Heat 106-87
The AP reports: John Salmons scored 27 points, Tyrus Thomas came up big again and the Chicago Bulls beat Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat 106-87 on Thursday night for their sixth win in seven games. The Bulls took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Heat 32-14, and moved into a seventh-place tie with Detroit in the Eastern Conference… Wade scored 31 points after hitting just five of 24 shots the previous night in a 90-88 loss at Indiana, but solid efforts by Chicago’s Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and Tyrus Thomas to back Salmons helped the Bulls avoid a four-game sweep. Gordon scored 18 points for the Bulls, who lead Charlotte by three games and Milwaukee by 3 1/2. Thomas added 15 points and 12 rebounds, and he was particularly good in the third, scoring seven points and blocking two shots.
NBA rule change on too many players on court
The NBA Board of Governors voted to approve a playing rules change in regards to “too many players on the court”, which will take effect beginning Friday, March 27.
Under the playing rules change, when a “too many players on the court” violation is called, a technical foul will be assessed against the offending team and the non-offending team will have the option of either accepting or nullifying the game action that occurred during the violation.
Option 1 — Accept Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to ACCEPT all play that occurred during the violation, including any points scored, with no adjustment of the game clock.
Option 2 — Nullify Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to NULLIFY all play that occurred during the violation, other than any acts of unsportsmanlike conduct or flagrant fouls or any points scored from free throws as a result of such actions.
Under this option, following the technical foul, the game clock would be reset to the time when the ball was put into play with too many players on the court and, depending on how the ball was originally put into play, play would resume in accordance with the following:
1) If the original play commenced with a throw-in, then the ball would be returned to the original throw-in spot and play commenced with a throw-in.
2) If the original play commenced with a missed free-throw attempt where the ball remained in play, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at center court between any two players who were on the floor at the time play was suspended due to the violation.
3) If the original play commenced with a jump ball, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at the original jump-ball spot between the same two players who participated in the original jump ball.
Granger leads Pacers past Heat 90-88
The AP reports: The 90-88 victory Wednesday night was Indiana’s 17th straight home win against the Heat, but it wasn’t certain until Wade’s desperation 3-point shot went halfway down and rimmed out at the buzzer. “I thought it was (going in) for a quick second, then I saw he shot it a little to the left and that’s why it rolled out,” said Danny Granger, who led Indiana with 28 points. “Fortunately, he missed it.” … Wade, the NBA scoring leader at almost 30 points a game, had 21 points but was just 5-of-24 from the field, including 2-of-11 in the second half… Haslem finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds, and O’Neal had 13 points and three blocks but only two rebounds. Ford added 20 points and Jarrett Jack 13 for the Pacers. Jeff Foster, starting in place of injured Troy Murphy, had a season-high 16 rebounds.
Wade gets a record, Heat beat Grizzlies 94-82
The AP reports: Dwyane Wade scored 27 points to top his own Miami single-season record— acknowledging afterward he wasn’t aware he broke that mark—plus added eight assists as the Heat easily beat the Memphis Grizzlies 94-82 on Monday night… Michael Beasley had 17 points and nine rebounds, Udonis Haslem scored 11 points and Jamaal Magloire finished with 10 points and a season-high 12 rebounds for Miami. O.J. Mayo scored 21 for the Grizzlies, who started a four-game road trip by losing for the 17th time in 19 games. Rudy Gay was held to eight for Memphis, matching his third-lowest output this season.
Dwyane Wade done with practices this season
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Michael Cunningham) reports: The Heat isn’t likely to have many more practice sessions with 13 games during the final 22 days of the regular season. When the Heat does practice, don’t expect Dwyane Wade to participate in much more than noncontact work as the Heat tries to keep its star healthy. Wade, nursing a sore hip that forced him to miss Wednesday’s game at Boston, “didn’t feel as bad as we anticipated” after playing Friday at New Jersey, coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We are going to manage his body as best as we can,” Spoelstra said.
Wade, Haslem lead Heat in 101-96 win over Pistons
The AP reports: Dwyane Wade scored 39 points in the first 47 minutes Sunday. In the final minute, he turned into a defensive specialist. Wade blocked two shots in the final 22 seconds and Udonis Haslem scored six points in the last 6.3 as the Miami Heat rallied for a 101-96 victory over the short-handed Detroit Pistons… Detroit was missing three key players—Richard Hamilton (groin), Rasheed Wallace (calf) and Allen Iverson (back)—but took a 96-95 lead on Walter Herrmann’s 3-point shot with 13 seconds left… Stuckey led the Pistons with 24 points, while McDyess had 16 points and 12 rebounds.