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Heat beat Raptors, 17th home win in row
Shaquille O'Neal had 28 points and Dwyane Wade added 27, leading the Miami Heat to a 103-91 win Tuesday night in a game marred by the fourth-quarter ejections of Toronto Raptors forward Morris Peterson and coach Sam Mitchell.
Rafer Alston had 19 points and Chris Bosh had a 16-point, 13-rebound game for the Raptors, who also got 15 points from Peterson.
Eric Williams' 3-pointer with 10:12 left gave Toronto an 81-79 lead, but the Raptors missed their next eight shots and the Heat took advantage. Wade's spinning layup with 8:01 left tied the game, and the Heat, who moved 10 games ahead of Detroit in the Eastern Conference standings, never trailed again.
And with Miami up 89-83 late, things got ugly.
Peterson was called for fouling Wade on a drive down the lane with 3:46 left, and the two got tangled up and exchanged words. They were separated and Wade backed up toward the foul line, but Peterson kept shouting at him — even as O'Neal tried to intervene.
Peterson was hit with a double technical and tossed his jersey into the stands behind the Raptors' bench as he left the floor. Wade also drew one technical foul.
Wade hit two free throws for a 92-83 lead, then had a steal on Toronto's next possession and found Udonis Haslem for a layup that put Miami up 11 with 3:26 left.
Mitchell was thrown out with 1:47 remaining after arguing a foul called against Jalen Rose, who clearly tried to trip Eddie Jones under the basket after the two battled for a rebound.
Eddie Jones, who had 11 rebounds, injured his right ankle with 1:11 left and was helped off the floor. He appeared to roll the ankle while leaping into the first row of stands for a loose ball. X-rays were negative, Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said.
Miami led for only 1:44 of the first half, missed nine of its first 10 shots and allowed Toronto to shoot 50 percent in the opening two quarters — yet still managed to go into halftime tied at 51.
O'Neal had 18 points in the half; he, Wade and Damon Jones combined to score 42 of the Heat's points before halftime. While the Heat was relying on only a trio, Toronto was getting contributions from its entire roster — each of the 10 Raptors who logged time in the half scored at least two points.
The same threesome scored Miami's first 12 points in the third quarter, and when Eddie Jones, who missed eight of his first nine shots, hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 7:33 left, Miami had what was then its biggest lead, 66-59.
Toronto answered with a 13-5 run, with Bosh getting consecutive baskets to put the Raptors up 72-71 with 2:37 left in the third period. But Keyon Dooling and Shandon Anderson scored the game's next eight points for Miami and helped the Heat end the third with a 79-76 lead.
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