The AP reports: Dwyane Wade scored 55 points, one shy of the franchise record, and the Miami Heat wrapped up the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs by beating the Knicks 122-105 on Sunday night. The Heat will visit fourth-seeded Atlanta when the opening playoff round starts this weekend… Wade shot 19-for-30 from the field, set a career high with six 3-pointers, and nearly topped Glen Rice’s record of 56 points before leaving with 1:06 remaining. Some in the crowd—even at least one member of the Heat coaching staff—wanted Wade to get one more chance at the record, but Heat coach Erik Spoelstra chose not to take the risk… Michael Beasley finished with 28 points and 16 rebounds for the Heat, who also got 15 points from Mario Chalmers. Al Harrington and Wilson Chandler each scored 21 points for New York. Quentin Richardson finished with 14 and David Lee had an 11-point, 11-rebound night for the Knicks.
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Celtics go to wire before beating Heat 105-98
The AP reports: Paul Pierce spent part of the week looking over the schedule, counting the missed opportunities that cost the Celtics a chance to repeat as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. There was a loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles. Another to the Trail Blazers when Brandon Roy was out… Pierce scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half, including the go-ahead free throws with 97 seconds left to help the Celtics earn their sixth straight win… Rajon Rondo had seven points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for Boston, and Glen “Big Baby” Davis scored 22 points with eight rebounds. Dwyane Wade scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half, adding nine assists, to help the Heat tie it 95-all with just under 2 minutes left. But Boston scored the next eight points to pull away.
Butler, West rise, Hornets beat Heat, 93-87
The AP reports: New Orleans is going back to the playoffs, thanks in large part to dramatics from Rasual Butler and David West. Butler hit a game-tying 3-pointer with no time remaining in regulation, West made the go-ahead jumper with 8.8 seconds left in overtime, and the Hornets stunned the Miami Heat 93-87 on Tuesday night. Chris Paul finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and Peja Stojakovic added 24 points for the Hornets (48-29), who not only clinched their postseason berth but stayed thickly in the hunt for home-court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs… Dwyane Wade scored 32 points before getting ejected with 1.4 seconds remaining and Michael Beasley added 25 for Miami (41-37), which remained a half-game ahead of Philadelphia in the race for the No. 5 spot in the East postseason chase. The Heat fell three games behind Atlanta for the fourth seed in the East.
Heat hit 8 4th-quarter 3s in win over Wizards
The AP reports: Three long jumpers in less than 2 minutes, and a one-point lead was up to nine. Soon Michael Beasley, Dwyane Wade and Yakhouba Diawara joined the fun, contributing to a Miami Heat mark for 3s in a quarter in Saturday night’s 118-104 victory over the Washington Wizards… The Heat went 8-for-13 from 3-point range over the final 12 minutes and 14-for-32 for the game… Wade scored 33 points, including three 3-pointers in the fourth, as the Heat remained a game behind the fifth-place Philadelphia 76ers in the jostle for postseason seeding in the Eastern Conference… Jermaine O’Neal and Diawara each added 16 points for the Heat. Miami played without forward Udonis Haslem, who cut his right thumb in Friday night’s win over the Charlotte Bobcats. Caron Butler scored 27 points, and Antawn Jamison had 23 to lead the Wizards, who were without Gilbert Arenas as part of the three-time All-Star’s plan to play in selected games during his comeback from knee surgery.
Wade, Heat beat Bobcats 97-92 to reach playoffs
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.
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.