[外電] Payton: Wade can't carry Heat every time out
The Heat's late-game flurry couldn't catch the Nets.
Now the question becomes whether the Nets' late-season fury can catch the Heat.
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Despite a 15-0 second-half surge that nearly erased a 20-point deficit, the
Heat came up short in a 90-78 loss Sunday that adds unexpected significance to
its final nine games of its season.
With the Heat losing for the fourth time in seven games, and with New Jersey
extending its league-best winning streak to 12, the Nets now trail by only
three games in the loss column for the No. 2 playoff seed in the East.
"I'd like to secure what we've had all season, which is the No. 2 spot," coach
Pat Riley said. "We've got to gather ourselves."
Not only did the Nets close the season series with a 3-1 edge, assuring them of
the playoff tiebreaker, but they also created hope for homecourt advantage in a
potential second-round series.
"We consider Miami one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and we see
it as a test each and every time," said Nets guard Vince Carter, who again
passed the challenge, scoring 43 points two games after he scored 51 against
the Heat and one game after he had a triple-double against Riley's team. "We
felt we could really give them a run."
As was the case in Saturday's loss at Cleveland, when he closed with 44 points
to 47 for Cleveland's LeBron James, Heat guard Dwyane Wade tried to
single-handedly offset an opposing player's scoring binge.
While Wade closed with 32 points and pulled the Heat back within five points
early in the fourth quarter, teammates said there has to be a better way.
"We're relying on him too much and watching him too much, and that's going to
kill him," point guard Gary Payton said. "It's wearing him down. I think we
have to get a lot more involved with a lot more stuff.
"People are getting 50, 40 a night. That's something that we have to stop. We
can't just keep that up and expect him to get 40 and 50, too."
The upshot is the Heat has become passive on offense, often standing around and
watching Wade. That, in turn, has diminished the defensive intensity.
"Right now, most of what we do offensively, and I don't think it's right, is
being overloaded with Dwyane," Riley said. "We have to go back and get the
balance that we had."
Sunday, though, Riley's options were limited.
While center Shaquille O'Neal returned after missing two games with a
hyper-extended left knee, foul trouble limited his impact, with his 18 points
and nine rebounds mostly afterthoughts.
In addition, starting point guard Jason Williams was out with tendinitis in his
right knee and starting small James Posey was sidelined for a second
consecutive game with Achilles tendinitis.
But this was about more than O'Neal's griping with the officiating or injury
absences.
The Heat again was unable to contain an opposing scorer and continued to look
befuddled by zone defense.
That left Wade with his typical heavy lifting, aware that more of a team
approach will be necessary in the playoffs.
"I'm trying to do the right thing to help this team win," he said. "Every night
I don't come in saying I've got to do this and that.
"But we'll get back to it. Other guys will get back into the flow of things.
We've just hit a little bump in the road."
The timing of that jolt couldn't be worse, with the playoffs to open April 22
and with the Nets emerging as the league's hottest team.
"It's all about what we do," O'Neal said. "We're simply out there beating
ourselves. We're making a lot of silly mental mistakes. We can't give a guy
like Vince Carter four or five 3-point shots in a row.
"We're going to be fine. We've just got to go home and regroup and just got to
pick it up. There's no time to panic."
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