Wade scored 24 points, including the winning jumper in the final second, as the Heat became the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a 98-96 triumph over the New York Knicks.
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Heat-Knicks: 300k   Wade's fantastic finish: 300k |
Stephon Marbury followed with seven consecutive points for New York, providing a 92-89 edge. But Miami answered with a 7-0 run capped by a jumper by Wade with 2:10 remaining.
Malik Rose and Kurt Thomas made baskets to tie the game at 96-96. After several misses and a timeout, Wade took a pass with 13 seconds left and dribbled down the clock before unleashing a 17-footer over rookie Trevor Ariza just before time expired, giving the Heat their 50th win of the season.
"I played him straight up," Ariza said. "He hit a tough shot to win the game. There is nothing more to say. I was just trying to stop him the best I can."
"I knew I was going to shoot at the buzzer," Wade said. "(Ariza) didn't give me the drive, so I took the jumper."
Miami coach Stan Van Gundy also knew Wade would take the final shot.
"We said we're either going to win it or go to overtime," Van Gundy said. "We couldn't have it a lot better than that. Dwyane's a very composed guy, a guy who likes being in that situation. I don't think you're going to keep Dwyane from getting a shot off. It's make and miss, and he made."
"(Ariza) played great defense," said New York's Jamal Crawford, who had eight points and 12 assists. "He stopped Wade's penetration and made him take a tough fallaway. Unfortunately, it went in."
It also was the second buzzer-beater of the game for Wade, who ended the third quarter with a 3-pointer. The winning shot atoned for a turnover on the Heat's previous possession, when Wade was forced into a bad pass by a double-team.
"I pride myself at times like that," Wade said. "I am a person who makes the right play and at the time, I didn't. All we could do is get a stop and I knew the ball would be in my hands, and I wanted it to be."
Shaquille O'Neal scored 23 points and Damon Jones added 18 for Miami (50-16), which has won 10 straight games and 17 of 19, with both losses coming in overtime.
O'Neal had nothing but praise for Wade, who was 8-of-15 and handed out five assists.
"He is a great player," O'Neal said. "We always get the ball in his hands at the end of games. He had a turnover and he was pretty mad at himself. I told him that we were going to stop and get the ball back."
Having also played with Penny Hardaway and Kobe Bryant during his career, O'Neal made a strange analogy when describing the trio.
"The difference between those three is in 'The Godfather' trilogy," he said. "One is Alfredo, who's never ready for me to hand it over to him. One is Sonny, who will do whatever it takes to be the man. And one is Michael, who, if you watch the trilogy, the Godfather hands it over to Michael. So I have no problem handing it to Dwyane."
Unlike last season, when the Heat needed go 17-4 down the stretch, their 10th trip to the postseason never was in doubt.
"I think the playoff berth has been a foregone conclusion for quite a while," said Van Gundy, who led Miami to a 42-40 mark last season, his first with the team. "But for how hard we had to fight last year and the two years previously to that, it's something I still take a lot of pride in."
Marbury scored 24 points, Tim Thomas added 20 and Kurt Thomas 14 and 12 boards for the Knicks, who fell to 0-3 against the Heat this season and have dropped two straight at home after a seven-game winning streak at Madison Square Garden.
New York scored the final six points of the first half to carry a 50-44 lead into the break. They twice built the advantage to 13 points in the second half, with the last instance coming on Tim Thomas' long jumper late in the third quarter.
After Wade's 3-pointer to end the period drew Miami within 78-68, the Heat used a 19-7 spurt to jump ahead.
"It was a very hard-fought game," Van Gundy said. "But I thought we did enough to win. Down the stretch, other than Dwyane's one turnover on the fast break, we did a good job of executing and getting good shots."