Dwyane Wade usually takes the game-winning shots for the Miami Heat. On Wednesday night, Michael Beasley bailed out his teammate’s miss.
Beasley dunked Wade’s errant shot with 1.6 seconds remaining, lifting the Heat to a 99-98 victory over the Orlando Magic.
Wade’s jumper was short, and Beasley soared in the air over Matt Barnes to take the rebound and seal the victory, which didn’t come without controversy.
Dwight Howard and the Magic bench pleaded for a goaltending call to no avail.
“When it touched my hand, I was just thinking, ’Dunk it. Dunk it. Dunk it,”’ Beasley said. “Because I was so close to the basket, I honestly wasn’t thinking about no offensive interference. Well, I was. But I looked directly at the ref, he was running down the floor, so I knew it was good.”
The Magic disagreed.
“From where we were standing, it just looked like goaltending,” Howard said.
Magic forward Mickael Pietrus refused to say if he thought it was interference.
“I love my money, I love my family, I’m not going to say anything,” he joked.
Elsewhere in the NBA it was: Charlotte 116 Toronto 81; Denver 124 Minnesota 111; Cleveland 98 Detroit 88; Indiana 86 L.A. Clippers 73; Boston 113 Philadelphia 110; Portland 93 New Jersey 83; Sacramento 117 New York 97; San Antonio 118 Golden State 104; Dallas 130 Houston 99; New Orleans 102 Milwaukee 99; and Phoenix 126 Memphis 111.
At Orlando, Fla., a desperation heave by Vince Carter wasn’t close on the other end after Beasley’s dunk, and the former Toronto Raptor tumbled off balance into the stands.
All this came after Jason Williams missed two free throws that could have put Orlando ahead by three, and Howard also missed a pair late.
Beasley had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Wade overcame a slow start to finish with 24 points to help Miami rally from an 11-point deficit, snapping the Magic’s five-game winning streak.
“I’m going to stop lying. That was a great play by Mike,” said Wade, who joked that it was also a great assist. “A very athletic play.”
Carter hit a tiebreaking three-pointer with 14 seconds left, leaving his hand in the air and skipping to the bench with what Orlando thought was a victory. Not quite.
“The satisfaction of making it would have made me happy if we won,” Carter said.
The Magic had no answer late for Wade.
He scored seven straight points in the fourth quarter, including drawing a foul from three-point range on Pietrus that gave the Heat a 91-86 lead and got Orlando fans all riled up. Wade even left his hand up for good measure, nodding his head to those in attendance.
Orlando overcame an early deficit the only way it knows how — from long distance.
After going down by nine points, the Magic had six different players connect from beyond the arc in the opening half. They often did it in the final seconds of the shot clock, too.
Then things got testy.
Howard gave Orlando its first lead of the game with 3:17 remaining in the half, dunking over Jermaine O’Neal for a three-point play. On the next Magic possession, O’Neal and Howard got tangled up.
The Heat centre was called for a technical foul after shouting a few words and walking toward Howard. An official got between the big men, and Magic coach Stan Van Gundy even walked on the court to make sure things didn’t escalate.
All the physical play aside, Miami’s biggest problem at the start was Wade. He was held to four points in the half, a big reason why Orlando led 44-43 at intermission.
The Magic had won 12 of the last 13 regular-season games against Miami.
“To come here and win where we haven’t won in a long time against a team we haven’t beat too many times over the last three years, and to come back and get it in the fourth quarter was real big,” Wade said. “Normally when we play that way, we’re not in striking distance against this team.”
Bobcats 116 Raptors 81
At Charlotte, N.C., Gerald Wallace broke out of his shooting slump with 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, helping the Bobcats to the most lopsided victory in team history, over the Raptors.
Stephen Jackson added 23 points for Charlotte, which dominated the listless Raptors. The sixth-year Bobcats’ previous biggest win was a 32-point rout of Indiana on Nov. 16, 2005.
While Wallace entered as the NBA’s third-leading rebounder, he was shooting 38 per cent from the field and averaging only 13.7 points. But he took advantage of one of the NBA’s worst defences by beating numerous defenders off the dribble.
Chris Bosh had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Andrea Bargnani scored 15 for the Raptors.
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Nuggets 124 Timberwolves 111
At Minneapolis, Carmelo Anthony scored 22 points and Nene had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Denver Nuggets handed the Minnesota Timberwolves their 14th straight loss.
The Timberwolves have not won since an opening night victory over New Jersey. Their 1-14 mark is the worst 15-game start in team history.
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Cavaliers 98 Pistons 88
At Auburn Hills, Mich., LeBron James scored 12 of his 34 points in the first quarter, helping the Cavaliers build a cushion it used to cruise to a win over the Pistons.
James’ strong start gave the Cavs a nine-point lead to start the second quarter. Reserve Daniel Gibson and Mo Williams combined to score 18 points in the second quarter to put them ahead by 18 at halftime.
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Pacers 86 Clippers 73
At Indianapolis, Troy Murphy had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and the Pacers beat the Clippers to snap their four-game losing streak.
Dahntay Jones scored 18 and Brandon Rush added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers (6-7). Indiana played without all-star swingman Danny Granger, who missed the game with a sprained ligament in his left knee.
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Celtics 113 76ers 110
At Boston, Rajon Rondo scored six points during a key run early in the fourth quarter, nailed a shot clock-beating jumper on the baseline in the closing seconds, and the Celtics overcame poor three-point shooting to beat the 76ers.
Paul Pierce led Boston with 27 points, including a game-tying three-pointer early in the 14-3 spurt. Kevin Garnett had 19 points and Ray Allen 18. Rondo finished with 10 points and seven assists.
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Trail Blazers 93 Nets 83
At Portland, Ore., the New Jersey Nets moved a loss closer to the record for the NBA’s worst start to a season when they dropped their 15th straight game, losing to the Trail Blazers.
Greg Oden continued a recent run of strong play with 18 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers, who have won 10 of their last 12. Portland has won six straight at home.
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Kings 117 Knicks 97
At Sacramento, Calif., Donte Greene made six three-pointers and tied a career high with 24 points, and the Kings never trailed in a victory over the Knicks.
Leading by 10 points at the half, the Kings built the margin to 93-73 with an impressive third quarter and the lead remained in double figures the rest of the game.
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Spurs 118 Warriors 104
At San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 32 points and the Spurs overcame another iron man performance by Monta Ellis in a victory over the Warriors.
Tim Duncan had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, who used a 22-3 run spanning the third and fourth quarters for their season-best third consecutive victory.
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Mavericks 130 Rockets 99
At Houston, Jason Kidd moved into second place on the NBA’s career assists list, Jason Terry scored 27 points and the Dallas Mavericks shot 65.5 per cent in a victory over the Rockets.
Kidd delivered seven assists to reach 10,337 in his career. He came in needing five to pass Mark Jackson’s career total (10,334), and now trails only John Stockton (15,806).
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Hornets 102 Bucks 99
At New Orleans, David West had 27 points and 10 rebounds, and the Hornets defeated the Bucks.
Rookie point guard Darren Collison scored 18 points, including a three-pointer to tie it with 7.5 seconds left in regulation. Collison also stole the ball from fellow rookie Brandon Jennings and drew a foul late in overtime, then hit two free throws to help New Orleans extend its home overtime winning streak to 11.
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Suns 126 Grizzlies 111
At Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire scored 18 of his 28 points during a torrid third quarter and the Suns beat the Grizzlies for their 15th consecutive home victory.
In the third quarter, the scintillating, high-scoring Suns hit their first 12 field-goal attempts and finished the quarter 17-for-20.