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Heat complete first-round sweep of Nets
Until Shaquille O'Neal's sore thighs get better, Dwyane Wade is quite capable of leading the Miami Heat past anyone in the playoffs, even sweeping them. Wade more than filled the void of O'Neal's scoreless first half by scoring a postseason career-high 34 points and setting up the big guy for most of his 17 second-half points as the Heat completed a first-round sweep of the New Jersey Nets with a 110-97 win Sunday.
The Heat cruised past the Nets because they hit shots and they got contributions up and down their lineup in the series from the likes of Eddie Jones, Damon Jones, Udonis Haslem, Keyon Dooling and Alonzo Mourning, the former Net who was booed unmercifully the past two games. Eddie Jones added 21 points on Sunday and O'Neal shot 7-for-9 in the second half after missing all five in the first half. Miami shot 54.9 percent from the field with Wade leading the way, making 13-of-20. New Jersey, which qualified for the playoffs on the final day of the regular season by winning for the 15th time in 19 games, was eliminated early because it shot poorly the entire series. Game 4 was another lowlight, a 39.5 percent effort that included a woeful 6-of-22 effort by Vince Carter. Kidd, who struggled most of the series, had his best game, scoring 25 points on 9-for-19 shooting. Carter added 23 points and Richard Jefferson and Nenad Krstic had 17 apiece. After making the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003, the Nets have been eliminated in the second round last year and, now, the first round. Trailing 60-57 midway through the third quarter, Miami took control with a 21-10 spurt that was all Wade. He hit a jumper to get the Heat within two points, he fed O'Neal for a layup and then found Damon Jones for an open 3-pointer and a 64-60 lead. Eddie Jones took over late in the quarter, hitting two 3-pointers and a jumper for a 78-70 lead after three quarters. New Jersey made a run early in the fourth quarter, drawing within 84-81 on a 3-pointer by Kidd. However, Dooling, who had 11 points, hit a 3-pointer and Wade embarrassed Carter on an out-of-bounds play, bouncing the ball off his rear end and hitting a layup for an 89-81 edge. New Jersey never got close again and the only cheers from the home crowd came when Lawrence Frank emptied the bench in the closing minutes. Wade appeared to be the only member of the Heat who wanted to end the series right away. He hit 6-of-8 shots and scored 14 points in the first quarter in helping Miami take a 27-16 lead. O'Neal, who started the series with a sore right thigh and hurt his left in Miami's double overtime win in Game 3, had a horrible half. He was 0-for-5 from the field with three turnovers. The only thing he hit was a couple of Nets' jaws in picking up two offensive fouls, and three overall. Kidd, Carter and Jefferson combined for 23 second-quarter points in helping New Jersey get within 48-47 at the half. Notes:@ After selling out only two regular season games, the Nets had their second straight sellout (20,174) on Sunday. ... Jefferson returned to the starting lineup in place of Brian Scalabrine. ... Miami was called for two technicals for illegal defenses.
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