Wade Scores 28 In Return As Heat Hold Off 3s-Wild Knicks

"The Miami Heat finally are whole.

And for a while there Friday night, they were in a whole lot of trouble against an opponent that was living by the 3-pointer to an absurd degree.

But with Dwyane Wade back, and a semblance of reality eventually returning to a New York Knicks offense that somehow was over-the-top thriving in the injury absence of Carmelo Anthony, the Heat held on for a 99-89 victory Friday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

For Wade, this was no subtle return, with 18 of his 28 points coming in the first half, a start that included a Euro-step layup, a dunk and a nifty reverse layup off a feed from LeBron James.

"It's a nice welcome back for that young kid, number three," coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Said teammate Shane Battier, "Didn't surprise me. He's a natural scorer. He can make the game look easy."

All it took was an early blocked shot by Knicks power forward Amare Stoudemire to awaken Wade.

"I just tried to be aggressive," he said. "I had been out for a while. The best way to get your rhythm is attacking the basket. After that first block by Amare, I decided to attack a little stronger."

Had the Knicks not shot lights out on 3-pointers, it likely would have been a shorter night for Wade than the 33 minutes he went, but it nonetheless was a triumphant return.

And an extremely odd game.

With Anthony sidelined by a bum ankle and with points already hard to find in recent games for the Knicks, New York went with a bizarre-but-entertaining all-or-nothing approach from the 3-point line, closing 18 of 43 from beyond the arc."

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