The Miami Heat picked up a big win on Wednesday when they beat the Brooklyn Nets 104-98 at American Airlines Arena.
With the win, the Heat are now back in eighth in the Eastern Conference. The Charlotte Hornets who lost on Wednesday sit a half-game back of Miami. Brooklyn now trails Miami by 3.5 games and has lost five in a row.
Miami has 18 games and remaining and still could realistically finish as the six-seed in the East. Currently the Milwaukee Bucks hold a 4.5 game advantage over Miami in sixth. The Indiana Pacers have won six in a row and sit in seventh.
With Hassan Whiteside unavailable due to a one-game suspension, Chris Andersen was asked to take on a heavier workload. This effort by Andersen came when he was not 100% but the veteran gave it his all. The 18 points for Andersen tied a career-high and he had 14 rebounds as well for a double-double.
Dwyane Wade took the game over at times and was a big reason for Miami's win. The All-Star had 18 points and nine assists in 34 active minutes. Wade easily took the most shots for Miami with 25 attempts. Wade also worked his way into the paint and picked up fouls along the way. The effort sent the veteran to the charity stripe 11 times where he sank eight baskets.
Miami put on a bit of a show with a series of dunks. Mixed in were two long passes from Udonis Haslem to Wade. Haslem who played 19 busy minutes contributed nine boards and blocked a shot.
The Heat will try to keep the momentum going when they take on the Toronto Raptors on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
