Wade nears triple-double in three quarters of Heat win

MIAMI -- Dwyane Wade knew he was on the cusp of a triple-double. He didn't mind getting a break instead.

Wade had 14 points, nine rebounds and nine assists before sitting out the entire fourth quarter, and the Miami Heat pulled away in the second half to beat the Washington Wizards 93-71 on Wednesday night.

"Anytime I can get rest, I'm fine," Wade said.

Daequan Cook and Michael Beasley each had 16 points for the Heat, who've won three straight, all against Southeast Division rivals. Udonis Haslem scored 14 points and James Jones and Mario Chalmers had 10 each for Miami, which closed the game on a 44-21 run.

It's the first time since March 2005 that Miami held consecutive opponents under 80 points. The Heat beat Atlanta 95-79 on Monday night and are a season-best six games over .500 (25-19). Miami's bench outscored Washington's reserves 50-14, and the Heat had a 26-2 edge in points off turnovers.

"Our activity level was consistent pretty much the whole way through," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "That's what we're looking for."

Antawn Jamison had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Washington, an NBA-worst 9-36. Caron Butler added 18 points, and Darius Songaila had 10 for the Wizards.

"We talked about playing with discipline and within our design," Wizards coach Ed Tapscott said. "That's critical for us. ... And we held that, for a while."

For a while, indeed. Washington controlled the pace throughout the first half, holding the lead for 16:46 in the opening two quarters.

Miami needed Wade to make a play just to send them into halftime with the lead. He stripped the ball from Juan Dixon, dribbled upcourt and found Cook for a 3-pointer with 18.1 seconds remaining until intermission, giving Miami a 41-39 edge at the break.

It wasn't Wade's best offensive night, nor did it have to be. The league's scoring leader was a mere 6-for-16 from the floor, finishing with the second-fewest points in 44 games this season.

But when Miami took command with a 21-6 run to end the third quarter, Wade was in the middle of everything.

"He impacted the game and he only had 14 points," Spoelstra said.

He had three points, two rebounds and two assists -- including one setting Chalmers up for a 3-pointer to end what was an 11-0 burst, giving Miami a 60-50 lead with 3:24 left.

And he finished his night with a couple of highlight-reel efforts.

With 52 seconds left in the third, Wade made a steal while leaping out of bounds, flipping the ball to Beasley at midcourt. Wade rejoined the play, took a pass back and -- this time, while falling over the baseline, even taking referee James Capers down with him -- he lobbed the ball to Cook for a slam.

"I saw Day-Day streaking, so as I tripped over my own feet, I decided to throw it up there," said Wade, referring to Cook by his nickname. "He made it look good."

It was reminiscent of another falling-down alley-oop pass by Wade: He pulled one off at the Beijing Olympics this past summer, finding Kobe Bryant for a slam against Greece.

"Oh, that was beautiful," Cook said.

Then to end the period, Chalmers slapped the ball upcourt to Wade, who collected it in time for a dunk that just beat the buzzer and put Miami up 70-56 entering the fourth, the biggest Heat lead of the night to that point.

With the game in hand, Miami rested not only Wade but also most of its starters for the fourth quarter.

"It's the same story for us," Jamison said. "We do a pretty good job and we go through one stretch ... that takes the air out of us."

Game notes
Still a fan favorite in Miami, Butler -- who hasn't played for the Heat since 2004 -- got a nice ovation before tipoff. ... A small bird flew around the court in the first half. ... True to his word, Beasley wore knee pads. He was knocked out of Monday's game against Atlanta after a knee-to-knee hit with Josh Smith and said that would be the last time he plays without the pads -- which he wears in practice because of team policy. ... Boston Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell and Miami Hurricanes quarterback Jacory Harris were in what was a sparse crowd.