Surging Heat drubs Timberwolves 107-90
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-11 15:27

Shaquille O'Neal had 33 points, and the Miami Heat rode an 18-2 second-half surge to a seventh straight victory, 107-90 Thursday night over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

O'Neal added 13 rebounds, was 10-for-18 from the floor and — most surprisingly, considering he was a 46.2-percent foul shooter coming into the game — hit on 13 of 18 tries from the line.

Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal (L) drives to the basket around Minnesota Timberwolves center Ervin Johnson during the first period of NBA action in Miami, Florida March 10, 2005. [Reuters]

Dwyane Wade added 20 points for the Heat, who won their 11th straight at home and expanded their lead in the Eastern Conference to eight games over idle Detroit. Miami (47-16) has 19 regular-season games remaining.

Kevin Garnett had 22 points and 19 rebounds for Minnesota, which came in with a three-game winning streak. The Timberwolves had won seven of their last eight games against Miami and led by eight points with 2:21 left in the third quarter, but shot just 31.8 percent the rest of the way.

Troy Hudson added 20 points for Minnesota.

Miami was hit twice with technicals for arguing calls; coach Stan Van Gundy drew the first, 1:56 into the game when he argued after officials Scott Foster and Michael Henderson differed on a foul call and ultimately sided with the Timberwolves.

When Wade waved his arms angrily toward Foster after a third-quarter non-call, he drew the second 'T' — which seemed to energize the second-year guard. He'd been held to nine points at the time, but on Miami's next possession, Wade drove the lane and dunked over Garnett for a 61-59 Miami lead.

Minnesota responded with a 15-5 spurt over the next 3:55, with Trenton Hassell scoring five points — including a jumper that put the Timberwolves up 74-66 with 2:21 left in the third.

But the Heat scored the last eight points of the quarter on a short jumper and 3-pointer by Eddie Jones, then a three-point play from Keyon Dooling that tied it at 74. And Miami opened the final period on a 10-2 surge, with Wade and Udonis Haslem getting four points each to help the Heat build an 84-76 lead with 8:38 left.

The lead was never smaller than four points thereafter.

Miami used an unusually strong showing from the foul line to build a 51-46 halftime lead.

The Heat — who entered the game with the NBA's lowest team free-throw percentage, 67.4 percent — hit their first 15 tries from the line and were 18-for-19 in the half.

Minnesota was only 4-for-7 from the line in the half, and trailed despite shooting 50 percent to Miami's 44 percent from the floor. The Heat missed seven of eight shots in one second-quarter stretch, yet still managed to outscore the Timberwolves 12-6 during that span to take a 42-40 lead.

Haslem finished with 11 points for Miami. Wally Szcerbiak scored 10 for Minnesota.

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