MIAMI — Shooting guard Dwyane Wade scored 32 points and the Miami Heat rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 108-104 on Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
With the Heat trailing by two points in the final minute, Wade hit two jumpers. The second, with 13.6 seconds left, put Miami up 106-104. Wade then added two free throws to score his team’s final eight points and 15 in the fourth quarter.
Miami (31-36) got 24 points from small forward Luol Deng, 20 points and 11 assists from point guard Goran Dragic and 12 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks from center Hassan Whiteside.
The Heat, who started the night in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Eastern Conference with the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers, won their second straight game after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.
Miami improved to 16-18 at home this season.
Portland (44-22) dropped to fourth place in the Western Conference, falling behind the idle Houston Rockets.
The Blazers, who are 8-3 in their past 11 games, were led by power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who posted his 35th double-double of the season with 34 points and 12 rebounds.
Portland led 32-27 after the first quarter. Miami, which shot 52.2 percent from the field in the opening quarter, took a 2-0 lead, but that turned out to be its only advantage of the first half.
The Blazers shot an impressive 73.7 percent from the floor in the first quarter, making their first 10 shots (eight on jumpers), before center Chris Kaman had his shot blocked.
Portland led by as many as 11 points in the second quarter before going into the break with a 57-48 advantage.
Miami outscored Portland 31-24 in the third quarter and cut its deficit to 81-79. The Heat tied the score twice in the quarter but were unable to take the lead despite being plus-four on turnovers.
The Heat shot 59.1 percent from the field in the third quarter compared with 47.1 percent for the Trail Blazers.
NOTES: Portland coach Terry Stotts said the absence of SG Wesley Matthews, who is out with a foot injury, hurts his team’s depth, among other things. “Wes brings 3-point shooting, defense, enthusiasm and toughness,” Stotts said. … Stotts said SF Nicolas Batum and SG Arron Afflalo were his best options to guard Heat SG Dwyane Wade. … Portland leads the NBA in free-throw percentage. … Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said it’s great to be rejoined on the bench by PF Chris Bosh, who is out for the season because of blood clots in his lungs. “I love it,” Spoelstra said of having Bosh back. “I missed him when he was out. I didn’t even realize how much I leaned on him as a leader. I think our guys have felt his presence the past couple of home games.” … Portland’s five-game road trip ends with games Friday at Orlando and Saturday at Memphis. … Miami’s three-game homestand ends Friday against Denver.