USA - Wade shoulders the scoring burden

MIAMI (NBA) - Team USA star Dwyane Wade is clearly over his shoulder injury.

Wade scored 14 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter as the defending champion Miami Heat rallied for a 100-95 triumph over the Indiana Pacers.

After missing 23 games with a separated shoulder, Wade connected on nine of 22 shots for his first 20-point performance since suffering the injury on February 21 at Houston. He also had five steals.

"I'm excited I was able to shoot the ball the way I wanted," Wade said. "I'm happy to be out there making plays. It was pretty dark there for awhile but everything seemed to be pretty good."

The victory also helped Miami (44-36) remain in the battle for home-court advantage with Toronto (46-33), which holds a two and a half-game lead over the Heat in the Eastern Conference standings.

A three-time All-Star, Wade found James Posey for a three-pointer from the left corner and scored on a one-handed jam over Mike Dunleavy during an aggressive 15-7 surge for a 97-94 lead with 43 seconds remaining.

"I just wanted to work some magic," Wade said. "I wanted to attack and attack. I know I told you guys I wasn't going to dunk, but I lied. I just had to be aggressive."

Indiana's Danny Granger netted two of his 24 points with a driving layup to make it a one-point contest four seconds later, but Wade fed Udonis Haslem for an easy basket at the 22-second mark and Posey split a pair to seal the win.

With the loss, the Pacers (35-44) fell 1 1/2 games behind the idle Orlando Magic (36-42) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East with just three games left.

Toronto stayed out in front of Miami with an 87-84 win over the Detroit Pistons.

Anthony Parker scored 21 points and Team USA forward Chris Bosh chipped in 18 and 16 rebounds for the Raptors.

Detroit had led 50-37 at half-time but, with homecourt advantage already secure for the Pistons, they sent their starters to the bench and Toronto took control.

Spain's Jose Calderon finished with eight points for the Raptors while Argentina's Carlos Delfino - getting a rare shot at extended playing time - had 11 points for Detroit.

Delfino's international team-mate Manu Ginobili also started the night on the bench, but the 6ft 6in guard has made the sixth-man role his speciality and he scored 21 points in as many minutes to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 110-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Every member of the Spurs bench enjoyed double-digit minutes as the starters enjoyed some rest - France international Tony Parker played less than two minutes - but the night was no easier for the Timberwolves, who were missing All-Star Kevin Garnett.

Matt Bonner scored 18 points and Brent Barry added 13 off the bench for the Spurs (58-21), who are two games behind the Phoenix Suns (60-19) for the Western Conference's second playoff spot.

Mike James scored 23 points to lead the Timberwolves.

Playing their last game in Oklahoma City before making a permanent return to the Crescent City, the New Orleans Hornets were denied a farewell win by Team USA forward Carmelo Anthony.

The All-Star scored 31 points and Mike Camby came up with 11 rebounds and nine blocks as the Denver Nuggets edged out the Hornets 107-105.

Allen Iverson added 23 points for Denver, while Brazil's Nene had 12 points and nine rebounds.

David West led the Hornets with 31 points while Team USA guard Chris Paul had 18 points.

Ben Gordon showed just why Great Britain continue to court him for their Olympic qualifying campaign as he scored 20 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 100-81 win over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Ben Wallace added 12 and 12 rebounds for Chicago, while Team USA guard Kirk Hinrich had 18. The Bulls' current GB international, Luol Deng, had 14 points.

Carlos Boozer collected 32 points and 15 rebounds as the Utah Jazz beat the league-leading Dallas Mavericks 104-89.

Playing less than 30 minutes as the Mavs rested their starters, Germany's Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points.

Nowitzki is among the favourites for the MVP award this season, but faces strong competition from the current holder, Steve Nash.

The Canadian collected 26 points and 14 assists in leading the Phoenix Suns to a 93-85 win over the struggling Los Angeles Lakers.

Kobe Bryant, who scored 50 points against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, was held to 17.

The New Jersey Nets secured their place in the playoffs at the expense of the New York Knicks with a 100-86 victory over their rivals from across the Hudson River.

Jason Kidd collected 13 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists while Vince Carter scored 25 points in the win.

Stephen Jackson kept the Golden State Warriors' play-off push alive, scoring 26 points in a 125-108 win over the Sacramento Kings. Baron Davis added 25 points for the Warriors.

Staying in California, the Los Angeles Clippers kept their own slim hopes alive with a 107-89 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Cuttino Mobley led the scorers with 22 points.

DeShawn Stevenson hit a season-high four three-pointers and scored 25 points as the Washington Wizards beat the Atlanta Hawks 98-85.

The Boston Celtics improved their chances of striking gold in the draft lottery as they sank to another loss, edged out 104-102 by the Milwaukee Bucks as Charlie Bell scored 24 points.

Ian Parker
FIBA