Associated Press
Associated Press
MIAMI — With the playoffs a week away, Dwyane Wade left the Miami Heat arena Saturday night with his swollen finger in a splint — and considered himself lucky.
Wade played less than 3 minutes before dislocating his left index finger but avoided serious injury as the Heat lost 86-84 to the woeful Washington Wizards.
A doctor reset Wade’s finger, and X-rays were negative.
“I’m not going to cry about it,” he said. “When I was sitting on the table before they could put it back in, the worst-case scenario was surgery, and the best-case scenario was this. Obviously it will be sore for a couple of days, but I’ll be ready to go when the playoffs start, for sure.”
The Heat fell two games behind the Chicago Bulls in the loss column in the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference, with only three games remaining.
“Second place is not a bad place to be,” Wade said.
His injury was ironic because coach Erik Spoelstra has made getting healthy a priority late in the regular season. As a result, LeBron James sat out for only the second time this season Saturday, and Chris Bosh was also rested.
James was active but had been told he wouldn’t play. When Wade departed, James got taped in preparation for entering the game.
“He was overzealous,” Spoelstra said with a smile. “We quickly got him on the same page about it. … You have to mentally prepare to play. That wasn’t the situation for him to go in.”
The Wizards’ John Wall said he expected to see James take the court.
“I was thinking that the start of the second half he was going to come out and play,” Wall said. “I’m not complaining. I’ll take the win.”
Nene took a feed from a driving Wall and banked in the winning layup for Washington with 0.5 seconds left.
“We don’t underestimate any team because their stars are out,” Wall said. “Everybody is here for a reason. They are in the NBA because they can play.”
Wade was on defense when he appeared to get his finger caught in another player’s jersey in the opening minutes. He immediately went to the locker room grimacing in pain.
“I looked down, and the knuckle was up and down,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ve never had a dislocated finger before.”
Fans later chanted “We want Dwyane!” but he never returned from the locker room. Without him, Miami lost for the first time in six games.
Cartier Martin scored 22 points for Washington. Wall had 13 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and four steals, and Kevin Seraphin scored 17 points for the Wizards, who outscored Miami 22-3 on fast-break points.
The Wizards have only 17 victories, but they have won five of their past seven games, beating both Chicago and Miami down the stretch.
Miami’s Mike Miller led a second-half comeback and finished with his first double-double of the season, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Mario Chalmers also scored 16 points, and Udonis Haslem had a season-high 15 rebounds.
Without their stars, the Heat played poorly early and trailed 57-43 with 19 minutes left. They rallied to take their first lead of the game on Miller’s follow shot at the start of the fourth quarter.
“This was a great game for the rest of the guys,” Spoelstra said. “To be able to compete, the guys showed a lot of toughness, especially when we got down double digits, to find a different way and not have to rely on Dwyane and Chris and LeBron. There were some brilliant, tough plays on both ends.”
Miller scored 10 consecutive Heat points — including back-to-back 3-pointers — to put them up 70-66. Washington responded with a 9-0 run capped by Maurice Evans’ 3-pointer.
Wall drove and fed Nene for a dunk that put the Wizards ahead 84-82 with 46 seconds left. After a Washington turnover, Haslem dunked on a follow to make it 84-all with 4.2 seconds to go.
Another drive by Wall set up the winning basket. Afterward, he hugged James.
“I just told him good luck in the playoffs, and go get a championship,” Wall said. “I know that’s his goal. I’ll probably be down here watching one of the playoff games down the road.”
BULLS 93, MAVERICKS 83
CHICAGO — Luol Deng scored 22 points, Richard Hamilton added 19 and the Bulls held off a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Mavericks.
The victory by the Bulls (48-16) gave them a 2 1-2 game lead over Miami for the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Chicago has two regular-season games left, against Indiana and Cleveland.
Bulls star guard Derrick Rose returned to the lineup after sitting out three games with a right foot/ankle injury and he had 11 points with eight assists in 32 minutes.
Defending NBA champion Dallas, which clinched a playoff berth on Thursday night when Houston lost, was playing the second game of a back-to-back, so veteran guards Jason Kidd and Jason Terry sat out to rest.
NUGGETS 118, SUNS 107
PHOENIX — Ty Lawson went 5 of 5 on 3-pointers and had 29 points and 10 assists to lead Denver to a victory over the Suns that clinched a playoff berth for the Nuggets.
ROCKETS 99, WARRIORS 96
HOUSTON — Courtney Lee scored 20 points, Goran Dragic added 18 points and seven assists and the Rockets snapped a six-game losing streak with a win over the Warriors.
BUCKS 106, NETS 95
MILWAUKEE — Brandon Jennings scored 30 points to lead the Bucks to a victory over the Nets that kept their slim playoff hopes alive.
76ERS 109, PACERS 106, OT
INDIANAPOLIS — Elton Brand scored 20 points and Lou Williams added 19 to help the 76ers beat the Pacers in overtime, stopping Indiana’s winning streak at seven games.
GRIZZLIES 93, BLAZERS 89
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Rudy Gay scored 21 points and had a key block in the final seconds as the Memphis Grizzlies won their fourth straight, over the Trail Blazers.
Blazers to their fifth straight loss.
JAZZ 117, MAGIC 107, OT
SALT LAKE CITY — Devin Harris scored 21 points and had a key block that forced overtime to help the Jazz defeat the Magic and keep their lock on the final Western Conference playoff spot.