Heat goes cold against Sonics
MIAMI – After a month where virtually everything went right, the Miami Heat caught one last break but didn’t take advantage – and that allowed the Seattle SuperSonics to knock off the NBA’s hottest team.
Ray Allen scored 35 points and Rashard Lewis added 17 points and 13 rebounds for the SuperSonics, who snapped the Heat’s franchise-record 14-game winning streak Monday night with a 98-96 victory.
“That’s one of the best moments in sports – being able to silence the crowd,” said Allen, who had 11 of his points in the fourth quarter and was 6 for 10 from 3-point range.
Dwyane Wade had 23 of his 28 points after halftime for Miami, which fell to 6-6 against teams from the Western Conference. Shaquille O’Neal had 25 points, 14 rebounds, a season-high seven blocks and four assists for the Heat, who were outrebounded 46-36.
The loss denied Miami’s bid for the NBA’s first 15-game winning streak since O’Neal’s Los Angeles Lakers won 19 straight in the 2000 season, helping propel them to the first of their three consecutive titles.
Seattle trailed for only six of the game’s 48 minutes, yet never led by more than eight points – and Lewis gave the Heat a golden chance to extend the game into overtime.
With the score 98-95, he fouled Miami’s Eddie Jones on a 3-point try with 0.4 seconds remaining. But the Heat guard – a 78.7 percent shooter entering the game – connected on only one of three free-throw attempts, the last of which he missed intentionally.
“When he missed the first one, I most definitely exhaled,” Lewis said.
Said Jones, who finished with 14 points: “It would have been better if it went in, but it didn’t, so you just need to keep moving on.”
The game was tied four times in the final quarter, the last being broken on Danny Fortson’s free throw with 13.3 seconds remaining. He missed the second, and Miami got Damon Jones – who’s made more 3-pointers than anyone in the NBA this season – an open look from the right corner.
The shot went long, Christian Laettner’s short putback try rimmed out, and Miami’s streak was soon over.
“We had to beat a very good team tonight,” said Seattle coach Nate McMillan, whose team won its sixth straight road game. Fortson finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Seattle.
“Ray Allen was fabulous tonight. We could have survived that,” Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. “But we couldn’t survive giving Danny Fortson 15 and 10 and giving them 16 offensive rebounds.”