Wade Shows Washington His Wizardry

The sellout crowd serenaded Shaquille O’Neal with another “M-V-P” chant.

Perhaps it should have been directed at O’Neal’s teammate.

Dwyane Wade scored 31 points, including a key three-point play with 1:05 left, and had a career-high 15 assists Tuesday night, helping Miami stay perfect in these playoffs with a 108-102 victory over the Washington Wizards.

“It’s kind of like pick your poison,” Wade said. “You can either let me shoot or you can give somebody a layup. And tonight they came up on me, so some other guys got layups.”

Miami leads the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series, 2-0. Game 3 is Thursday at Washington.

Eddie Jones had 21 points, O’Neal scored 16, Damon Jones had 14 and Udonis Haslem had a 14-point, 13-rebound effort for Miami -- which won despite 20 turnovers, an 18-7 deficit in offensive rebounds and a 22-for-40 showing at the free-throw line.

“We didn’t take care of anything that we wanted to take care of,” Heat Coach Stan Van Gundy said. “And we won the game.”

Antawn Jamison, playing with tendinitis in his right knee, had a playoff career-high 32 points for Washington. Gilbert Arenas scored 28 for the Wizards, but the third member of their big three, Larry Hughes, missed his first 11 shots and finished with 15 points on five-for-17 shooting.

“You’ve got to get smacked in the face before you toughen up,” Arenas said. “They’re beating us down right now. But ... we’re going to keep fighting.”

Wade made 10 of 15 shots and grabbed seven rebounds. In the first three quarters, Miami had 29 baskets, 22 either made by Wade or set up by his passes.

“He is a tornado out there,” Wizard Coach Eddie Jordan said. “He is a major force.”

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Wade became the fifth player in NBA history with at least 30 points, 15 assists and five rebounds in a playoff game. The others are Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Walt Frazier and Oscar Robertson.

Despite it all, Jamison made a floater from 12 feet with 1:24 left to bring Washington to within five, but Wade answered with a three-point play 19 seconds later to essentially put the game away.

Meanwhile, the Wizards suffered a blow when backup center Etan Thomas left in the first quarter because of an abdominal strain. Jordan said Thomas could miss the rest of the series.