Dwyane Wade 55 points vs New York Knicks 2009

MIAMI(AP) As the final moments ticked away in the greatest scoring show of his career, Dwyane Wade was summoned to the New York Knicks' bench for a quick word.

"It's kind of ridiculous,'' Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni told him, "that you're this good.''

Get ready, Atlanta: Wade looks primed for the playoffs.

Wade scored 55 points, one shy of the franchise record, and the Miami Heat wrapped up the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs by beating the Knicks 122-105 on Sunday night. The Heat will visit fourth-seeded Atlanta when the opening playoff round starts this weekend.

"I came in early and I was very focused,'' Wade said. "My teammates thought something was wrong with me because I wasn't talking.''

Nothing was wrong. Not even close.

Wade shot 19-for-30 from the field, set a career high with six 3-pointers, and nearly topped Glen Rice's record of 56 points before leaving with 1:06 remaining. Some in the crowd - even at least one member of the Heat coaching staff - wanted Wade to get one more chance at the record, but Heat coach Erik Spoelstra chose not to take the risk.

"He's broken every other record,'' Spoelstra said. "Let's leave one of them to Glen Rice.''

Michael Beasley finished with 28 points and 16 rebounds for the Heat, who also got 15 points from Mario Chalmers.

Al Harrington and Wilson Chandler each scored 21 points for New York. Quentin Richardson finished with 14 and David Lee had an 11-point, 11-rebound night for the Knicks.

Wade scored for the final time with 5:31 remaining. Only then did the Knicks figure out how to stop him, well after it was too late.

"He just made them all tonight,'' Harrington said. "When he is hot, you are in for a long night.''

Wade's MVP candidacy is so important to the Heat that the franchise took the step - rare for them - of campaigning for the award. Last week, the team sent out a promotional DVD to postseason award voters, along with a T-shirt and paperweight bearing an "M-V-3'' logo, a nod to Wade's jersey number.

Now, the DVD is already outdated. This might have been his best show of the season.

He was diving on the floor for loose balls, finished with nine rebounds, and dominated the Knicks in Miami for the second time this season.

"He just has a remarkable way of rising to the occasion,'' Spoelstra said.

It was the 11th 50-point game in the NBA this season, the third by Wade - matching Cleveland's LeBron James for the league's high - and the third against the Knicks. Kobe Bryant got the NBA season-best point total with 61 in Madison Square Garden on Feb. 2, and James scored 52 at New York's famed arena two nights later.

Wade now has six of the eight highest-scoring games in Heat history, four of them this season.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Wade late in the third quarter put Miami up 95-87. He reached 50 points on an 8-footer with 26.4 seconds left in the third quarter, meaning the Heat entered the final period leading by six, and with the rest of Wade's teammates trailing him by three.

Yes, through three quarters, it was Wade 50, Rest of Heat 47.

"This wasn't just another game,'' Wade said. "This was a very important game for us.''

tags:
Eastern Conference
Cleveland Cavaliers (cavs) vs. Detroit Pistons
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Orlando Magic vs. Philadelphia 76ers (sixers)
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Los Angeles Lakers (L.A.) vs Utah Jazz
Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Hornets
San Antonio Spurs vs. Dallas Mavs (mavericks)
Portland Trailblazers (blazers) vs. Houston Rockets

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[PGroveTx214]

@rickdav36 who in the flying fuck gives a shit about jumping high?? 99.9% of us are 25 year old 300 lb virgins who wanna hear about diet foods and exercising to lose huge jellly rolls so take ur spamming of "jumping high" else where.. thank you

[Eminemfans002]

Song?

[ibaghot]

@Eminemfans002 remember the name

[bballboy247]

@SuperThunder333 wuld yall quit tlking about wade or kobe being the next mj????? NO ONE will b the next mj. lets hav wade b wade, kobe b kobe, and mj b mj. thnk u.

[Acramerful]

kobe is maybe the 2nd michael jordan.

But wade is the 1st wade.

[3NdykObE911]

after kobes done ama see wade 

[SuperThunder333]

Dwayne Wade has potential to be the next Micheal Jordan or Kobe Bryant.

[MrAmviz]

who the fuck wants ur fucking opinion.. keep it to urself u scumbag.. are u kobe urself to comment on this.

[Josephexpn]

best quality

[BrentwoodProjects]

WADE NATION

[Rsaint17]

@kingjustin33 it gets annoying