Wade, Heat end road trip with win in Utah
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Salt Lake City, UT (SportsNetwork.com) - Dwyane Wade scored 29 points and the Miami Heat capped a tough road trip with a 100-95 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday.
The Heat led wire-to-wire and were the beneficiary of a five-second violation in the closing seconds. Wade missed a free throw with 5.2 ticks remaining and Miami ahead 98-95, giving the Jazz one final shot out of a timeout.
They never got one off, however, as Joe Ingles failed to get the ball inbounds and was whistled for a violation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Norris Cole hit two free throws to finish off the win for the Heat, who also received 22 points from Chris Bosh and went 2-3 on their road swing.
"The most important thing is you find a way (to win). It's not always going to be pretty," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Enes Kanter scored 25 points and Gordon Hayward added 18 for the Jazz, who were coming off a surprising win over the defending champion Spurs on Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After shooting 36.6 percent from the field in Wednesday's loss in Denver, the Heat made 62.9 percent of their shots in the first half. They were ahead by 16 early in the third quarter.
"We just gave up too many easy shots," Hayward said.
A Hayward 3-pointer cut Utah's deficit to 67-59 midway through the frame, and an 8-0 run to end the quarter, capped by a Dante Exum 3-pointer, pulled the hosts within 78-74.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Utah was within one possession several times in the fourth but never got over the hump. It was an 83-81 game before Wade and Mario Chalmers hit back-to-back triples to give the Heat from space.
With Utah trailing by four with under two minutes to play, Kanter airballed a corner 3-point try. Bosh hit a tough turnaround at the other end, and Miami held on from there.
Wade and Luol Deng combined for 29 points in a lopsided first half. Wade's runner near the end of the second quarter gave Miami a 62-47 cushion at the break.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
Miami had lost three in a row in Salt Lake City ... Wade recorded a game-high seven assists ... Bosh pulled down a game-high nine rebounds ... All of Deng's 14 points came in the first half ... Alec Burks netted 16 points for Utah ... Jazz big man Derrick Favors left the game with an ankle injury.