Streak Ends as O'Neal Sits Out

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">MINNEAPOLIS - Shaquille O'Neal says his team is better when it has to fight, and Tuesday's game against the Timberwolves was nearly a full-out brawl.
Of course, it helps if O'Neal is actually in the fight.

O'Neal missed Tuesday's game at the Target Center with a sprained right thumb, and Dwyane Wade tried to carry the Heat back from a 17-point deficit despite aggravating a right wrist injury in the first quarter.

Wade and the Heat came up just short, falling 100-96 to the Timberwolves in a game that featured a near scuffle between the Heat's Gary Payton and Minnesota's Rashad McCants.

With the Heat trailing 100-98, Minnesota's Mark Blount missed a jump shot with the shot clock expiring, giving the Heat 13 seconds to get off a game-tying shot. Heat coach Pat Riley didn't ask for a timeout, and Wade managed to get all the way to the rim for a right-handed layup attempt as he was drifting to the left side of the basket and Blount over his shoulder trying to block the shot.

Wade missed the shot, and Kevin Garnett grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 0.9 seconds remaining. Garnett made the free throws to seal the win for the Timberwolves.

''That's something I'm going to play over and over in my head,'' Wade said of the missed layup. ``You could say I should've gone up with the left. But I got to the basket. I really wanted to go for the three, actually. I wanted to go for the win. But once I came off and I attacked the basket, I got a good shot. It just wasn 3/8t meant to be, because I don't miss that too often.''
Wade could have used his sore right wrist as an excuse, but Wade had already scored 11 fourth-quarter points, including two three-pointers, proving that he was able to play through any stiffness from the first-quarter fall.
Wade took the hard fall when McCants fouled him on a fast break layup attempt. McCants was called for a flagrant foul, and Wade spent almost two minutes on the floor writhing in pain. He made both free throws, but then left the game to ice his wrist.

Wade returned in the second quarter to 13 of his game-high 35, including two on an over-the-shoulder, no-look bank shot as he was getting fouled.
In the third, however, Wade scored just two points, as the Timberwolves outscored Miami 32-13 for the period to take a 12-point lead entering the fourth quarter.

''We got affected by their pressure when they went with a small lineup in the second quarter, but we gathered ourselves,'' Riley said. ``In the third quarter, (the Timberwolves) were on fire.''

Wade said his wrist was particularly stiff in the third quarter, and he sat for the final minute of the third and the first 3:30 of the fourth quarter. When he returned, his wrist was taped and he looked to be playing the role of decoy, passing to Alonzo Mourning in the post his first few possessions. Wade was eventually fouled, though, and before shooting the free throws took the tape off his wrist and went on to score 11 in the period, including the pair of rare threes.

''When you shoot them without thinking about them, in rhythm, it 3/8s just a regular shot,'' Wade said. ``Me, I feel I'm the kind of player that can hit them when it counts, when I need to.''

Wade missed the one that counted most, however, sending the Heat into a game against the Pistons with a loss. Wade said he will play tonight, while O 3/8Neal 3/8s status remains up in the air.

O'Neal, who sprained his thumb after getting fouled from behind on a dunk attempt against the Knicks on Sunday, was thought to be available until less than an hour before tip-off. In fact, the Heat couldn't even place O'Neal on the inactive list because it was determined too late that he would sit out.</div>

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