Miami ? Had the Jazz been able to close out Saturday's victory in regulation, Dwyane Wade would have been left with a 36-point afternoon, an impressive total but not even the highest-scoring game by an opposing player all season.
Instead, the Jazz's triple-overtime loss gave Wade every opportunity he needed to match his career-high with 50 points. Through seven games in March, Wade is averaging 39 points, 10.4 assists and 6.7 rebounds for the month. "I played 52 minutes tonight and I'm ready to go lay down," Wade said. "It got to the point where you were just tired and it wasn't going to get any worse. Once you can tell that the other team is tired as well, then it's all about just making plays."
Wade also passed Alonzo Mourning in the third quarter to become the Heat's all-time leading scorer. "My job is to make sure that the next person who tries to catch up to me has a long way to go," said Wade, who is in his sixth season.
Wade missed potential winning jumpers at the end of the first and second overtimes, but otherwise controlled the game. He went 19 of 39 overall, hit 4 of 11 three-pointers plus 8 of 9 free throws, and had 10 rebounds, nine assists and four steals.
He came alive by scoring 10 of Miami's last 14 points to close the first half, including a spectacular play in which he beat Andrei Kirilenko with a behind-the-back dribble and glided in for a layup as part of a three-point play.
Wade tried to draw contact from Kirilenko in the fourth quarter but still hit a leaning three-pointer as Miami closed to 105-100.
"He is in every play," Kyle Korver said. "He is shooting the threes now, which he used to not do. He played a great game. It takes a whole team to try to stop him. I thought we did an all right job at times. He hit big shots when he needed to."
Ronnie Brewer did everything he could late against Wade, forcing him to take jumpers on both potential winning shots. In the second overtime, Brewer tried to take a charge but couldn't get the call and tied up Wade for a jump ball with 19.8 seconds left.
"On the last couple overtime plays, I just tried to make him take tough shots that were contested," Brewer said, "and lucky for us that he missed them. ... We had a lot of shots, a lot of opportunities, we just didn't make the most out of them."
Kobe Bryant's 40 had been the highest-scoring game by an opposing player all season. The last player to score 50 against the Jazz was Washington's Gilbert Arenas in January 2007. The Jazz's last victory in Miami came before Wade's arrival on March 10, 2003.
rsiler@sltrib.com
? Highlights
? Through seven games in March, Dwyane Wade is averaging 39 points, 10.4 assists and 6.7 rebounds.
? Against the Jazz, Wade went 19 of 39 overall, hit 4 of 11 three-pointers plus 8 of 9 free throws, and had 10 rebounds, nine assists and four steals.
