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Heat refuse to chill out

Dwyane Wade made a sudden crossover dribble to get free, but in the instant after his 19-foot jumper sailed through the net and the Miami Heat's lead ballooned to 20 points in the third quarter, he grabbed his side in pain.

Wade had wrenched a rib muscle. The Detroit Pistons pounced on the anxious Heat, deflated momentarily by the loss of the team's leading scorer, to cut Miami's lead in half.

But even without Wade -- who returned from treatment in the locker room for three painful minutes to start the fourth quarter -- the Heat responded in the manner befitting this fierce Eastern Conference finals. Miami refused to relinquish its grip on this game at home.

Shaquille O'Neal set a dominating tone, and the rest of the team showed that more than just two stars power the Heat.

O'Neal scored 20 points to lead five Miami players in double figures, and the Heat dismantled the Pistons, 88-76, to capture a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 will be played Saturday at the Palace at Auburn Hills.

The Pistons are one game from elimination, losing on the night when their coach, Larry Brown, admitted that he had talked two weeks ago with the Cleveland Cavaliers. His opportunity to leave the Pistons may come sooner than he anticipated, but once again, Miami will enter Game 6 with a serious injury question.

"It felt like a pulled muscle, me making a quick move; it was like whiplash to my body," Wade said.

He said he hoped to recover quickly and be ready for Game 6.

O'Neal thinks Wade will be ready. "He's a tough kid," O'Neal said. "If he's not able to play, we just have to have other guys step up."

Seconds after Wade was injured, he ran down on defense and took a charge from Rasheed Wallace. That was, Wade joked, because he could not move. "I just wanted to stop play," he said, adding that it did little to hurt the pulled muscle. He left the court with 5 minutes 8 seconds left to play in the third quarter.

When Wade returned in the fourth quarter, he was wearing a protective vest. He said he returned because he knew the rest of his team was playing hurt. He left the game for good with 9:42 left in the fourth quarter, having scored 15 points. But the Heat's lead never slipped below 10 points.

O'Neal's continued improvement from his own injury -- a bruised right thigh -- could at least ameliorate the effect of Wade not at his best. He shot 9 of 15 from the floor, opening up the Heat's offense and allowing every player to get involved.

Udonis Haslem chipped in 14 points, Damon Jones added 15 and Rasual Butler 12 to keep the Heat on track without Wade.

"I think this is the first time as a team, with Shaq getting back healthy, that we came out and everybody was a big, big part of it," Wade said.

Meanwhile, the Pistons' entire frontcourt had disappeared, beset by foul trouble and frustration. Wallace had just two points and did not go to the foul line. He lashed out at the referees after the game, saying the uneven calls were just "so blatant."

Richard Hamilton (21 points) led only three players in double-digit scoring for Detroit, as the Pistons vaunted defense allowed Miami to shoot 52 percent.

The starting frontcourt scored just 22 points for Detroit and Brown criticized his team for not moving the ball.

After his foul-plagued Game 4 performance, O'Neal came out as if smoke was billowing from his ears. He started with two quick turnaround hook shots, setting the tone for the Heat. Despite his thigh injury, the offense still runs through him and that was to Miami's benefit in this game.

When the Pistons concentrated on O'Neal that opened the perimeter for guard Damon Jones, who sparked the Heat with a quick nine points in the first quarter.

Emotions ran high for both teams as it came down to a best-of three series to get to the finals. Brown got a technical in the second quarter and Rasheed Wallace got one in the fourth quarter.

"Oh, we're going to win Game 6," Wallace said, and then referred to officials. "They are going to send some good people out there and there's going to be a Game 7. There's no other series."

If the Pistons do not figure out O'Neal, it could be finished. After the game, O'Neal suggested that the Pistons, center Ben Wallace in particular, were the ones flopping and acting.

It is clear that while Wade is injured, O'Neal is starting to get healthier, which is encouraging to Damon Jones. "Similar to Shaq, 50 percent of Dwyane Wade is better than no Dwyane Wade at all," Jones said.

"If I feel that I can go out and help my team, I will play," Wade said. "If I feel that I'm going to go out there and hurt my team, then I won't."
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