By Paul Levine May 11, 2006, 17:00 GMT
Los Angeles - Dwyane Wade set the table and the Miami Heat feasted.
Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (L) drive the ball around New Jersey Nets forward Vince Carter (R) during the second half of their second round Eastern Conference playoff game two at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida Wednesday 10 May 2006. The Heat defeated the Nets 111-89 to even the best-of-seven game series at one game a piece. EPA/RHONA WISE
Wade scored 17 of his 31 points in the decisive opening quarter, sparking the Heat to a 111-89 victory over the New Jersey Nets Wednesday in Game 2 to square their Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series.
'The plan was to go out and be very aggressive,' said Wade, who hit 12-of-19 shots, including four 3-pointers. 'I normally come out, defer to guys and try to read the game. But tonight, I wanted to come out and attack early to try to set the tempo for my team. I was just focused just knowing we needed this game.'
Shaquille O'Neal avoided foul trouble to score 21 points for Miami, which rebounded from a 100-88 drubbing to shoot 53 percent from the field and hit 11 3-pointers in the wire-to-wire win.
'The real playoffs start now at one-game apiece,' O'Neal said. 'Now we have to go to their place and get one or get two.'
Vince Carter led New Jersey with 22 points. Richard Jefferson had 16 and Jason Kidd finished with 15 for the Nets, who suffered their second-worst playoff loss in franchise history.
'They came out ready to play, plain and simple,' Carter said. 'We were knocked back on our heels from the jump and couldn't recover.
'They made adjustments but it has nothing to do with our not showing up to play. We were just there, put on our uniforms and get the game over with, so to speak.
'That's what we showed. You can't have that if you want to consider yourself a good team and you want to be great teams. You have to show up every game and we didn't do that,' Carter added.
The Nets look to rebound at home in Games Three and Four Saturday and Monday.
'We have to bounce back, we have to swallow this one and be ready for Game three,' Carter concluded.
Wade had his offense going early and often. The speedy All-Star guard scored 13 quick points to put Miami ahead, 25-4 midway through the opening quarter. He finished the period with 17, including all a trio of 3-pointers that opened up a 41-19 Heat cushion and they never looked back.
'That first quarter, 41 points, they blitzed us,' Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. 'Dwyane Wade was tremendous. He made three three-pointers in the quarter. He set the tone for them, and they played with a great sense of urgency.'
Elsewhere in the NBA playoffs:
Los Angeles Clippers 122, Phoenix Suns 97
Elton Brand scored 27 points, and the bigger Clippers dominated the Suns on the boards, 57-26 to level their Western Conference semifinal playoff series at 1-1.
'We out-rebounded them by at least 30 boards, which was imperative,' said Brand who grabbed 10 rebounds. 'We hit the rebounds, hit the offensive boards, hit the defensive boards and that gave us a big advantage.'
Cuttino Mobley and Sam Casell netted 23 points apiece for Los Angeles, which rebounded from a 130-123 Game One loss. Chris Kaman added 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Clippers, who took home-court advantage heading home for Games Three and Four Friday and Sunday.
'We wanted to let them know this series is going to be a tough one,' Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. 'The team that loses the first two games loses 94.6 per cent of the time, so it was pretty big for us to get a win. Our guys came and they brought it. Our energy, our aggressiveness was really there tonight.'
Raja Bell scored 20 points and Brazilian Leandro Barbosa added 19 for listless Phoenix, which was never in the game.
'They played well but the difference was on the glass,' said two- time MVP Steve Nash, who finished with a quiet 14 points and eight assists. 'I don't think we had the swagger or confidence or energy we needed. When you don't have that, and you give up 30-6 in second- chance points, that's not a good equation.'
Sparked by Cassell, the Clippers raced to a 20-6 lead in the first six minutes and continued the assault. They led by double digits for all but 26 seconds thereafter with their largest lead being the final score.
'There's no secret, we just didn't have the energy necessary to negate a little bit of the boards and second-chance points,' Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. 'When you don't have fight in you, then the big guy is going to punish you. That's what they did.'
However, D'Antoni is confident the Suns will put the lospided loss behind them and be ready for Game Three.
'We're not going to dwell on this. This is it,' he said. 'We will regroup and lay it on the line next game.'
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