Raptors shut down Wade in fourth to beat Heat

By Holly MacKenzie, for NBA.com
Posted Wednesday January 27, 2010 11:55PM

TORONTO (NBA.com exclusive) -- Through the first three quarters, Dwyane Wade was sensational for the Miami Heat.

And then, he sort of disappeared.

With the fifth spot in the East up for grabs, the Toronto Raptors were able to grind out the 111-103 victory over the Heat. They did so by withstanding a 35-point, 10-assist performance from Wade, who was coming off a disastrous second half in a Heat loss against the Cavaliers on Monday. In Toronto, Wade came out on fire, setting the tone early.

On the Heat's third possession of the game, he drove straight down the lane, delivering a statement dunk. It was powerful, passionate and mean.

Unfortunately for Miami, the Raptors weren't going to be intimidated on their home floor and they started battling back. While the Heat lead by as many as 13 in the first half, Toronto cut their deficit to just three at the break.

With Wade scoring 21 points in the opening two quarters, Toronto knew that in order to turn things around and get the victory they would have to change things up in the second half.

"Throughout the game we tried to show him different guys and we were sitting on trapping him," Raptors coach Jay Triano said. "We waited and waited and waited, and then finally in the fourth quarter, we just thought it was time to hit him and make someone else have to make shots."

Forcing Wade to become a distributor in the fourth quarter, the Raptors dared his Heat teammates to beat them and they came up short.

"Coach did a good job of making adjustments." Antoine Wright said. "When you're giving a player like that space he pretty much can pick and choose what he wants so we tried to press up a little bit and force him to his right hand. Ultimately it got us to getting the ball out of his hands. Other guys made shots early, but they didn't make them late."

While Wade finished with 35 points, he scored just four in the fourth. Jermaine O'Neal added 22 points and Udonis Haslem scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds off of the bench, but it wasn't enough for the Heat.

"They did what they were supposed to," Wade said of the defense he faced down the stretch. "They doubled me off of the ball so I just passed to my teammates."

In the fourth, the Heat gave up 60 percent shooting to the Raptors and were unable to string together defensive stops.

"They just played better in the second half," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "They played well and they made shots again down the stretch."

Spoelstra went with Wade throughout the entire second half and said he wasn't happy with playing him 24 straight minutes. The Miami rotation was ruffled when Michael Beasley left in the first quarter with a hyperextended right knee.

He returned briefly, but did not play in the second half.

Raptors starter DeMar DeRozan missed the first game of his career with a right ankle sprain. Sonny Weems made the first start of his NBA career and drew the challenge of guarding Wade.

Down the stretch, though, it was Wright who was on the floor guarding Wade, forcing him to give up the ball or take tough shots.

The victory felt secure when the Heat gave up a key offensive rebound that led to a Bosh bucket and the Raptors pulling ahead by nine with 4:25 remaining.

Of course, the Heat came out of a timeout focused and kept fighting. In the end, it was a corner three from Wright that sealed the game with 16 seconds remaining.

While Wright had the big play late, it was the strong play of Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani that led the Raptors on Wednesday night. Bosh finished with 24 points and a season-high 18 rebounds to go with four assists while Bargnani scored 27 points, making 13 of 19 shots.

"A lot of their players have been a whole lot more aggressive," Beasley said of this Raptors team that looks much different than the one that was blown out in Miami. "Sonny, Antoine Wright, Jarrett [Jack]. They've just been aggressive. A lot of those guys can score the basketball. When you've got Bargnani and Chris Bosh playing so well together, there's not a whole lot you can do."

Getting the victory against the Heat moved Toronto up in the standings, but they know they the Knicks will be waiting to knock them back down tomorrow night.

"We're right there in the hunt for the top teams in the East now," Wright said. "We've got to keep it going tomorrow. These two games are behind us."

• Heat: Cook, Diawara
• Raptors: DeRozan, Evans

• Heat: --
• Raptors: Johnson

• Lead Changes: 9
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, OT
• Officials: #14 Joe DeRosa, #79 Nicholas Buchert, #73 Ed Malloy
• Attendance: 18265
• Duration: 2:10