MIAMI -- Dwyane Wade scored 15 of his team-high 32 points in the fourth quarter and carried the Heat to a 108-104 victory over the Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday night at the American Airlines Arena.
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Falling behind 88-85 at the 8:46 mark of the fourth quarter. Wade rallied his team by scoring his team's last eight points including a go-ahead bucket with 13.1 ticks to go.
"That was a good win," said head coach Erik Spoelstra. "A gutsy win double-digits down nine during that timeout. I was encouraged to see the mental toughness and the stability to come out of that timeout and to grind the game and then give ourselves a chance there at the end. That was one of the more mentally tough second halves that we've had against good competition."
Loul Deng played the entire second half and added 24 points on 4 of 4 shooting from beyond the arc. Slovenian point guard Goran Dragic chipped in 20 points and 11 assists as Miami overcame a superlative effort from LaMarcus Aldridge who led Portland with 34 points.
Damian Lillard scattered 17 points for the Blazers but the All-Star point guard only had a lone bucket in the final 12 minutes of play.
The Blazers had a chance to break a 104 deadlock with 52.1 seconds left in the contest but Aldridge missed a well defended shot and on the ensuing possession, after Wade's bucket on the other end, Portland committed a costly turnover which eventfully sealed their fate.
Miami improved to 31-36, 7th place in the Eastern Conference while the Blazers dropped to 44-22, fourth place in the Western Conference.
Photo: Dwyane Wade looked like the Wade of old, scoring 32, to power the Heat over the Blazers 108-104 on Wednesday night at the American Airlines Arena.
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