Advertisement

Heat comes home with five road wins

 
Published March 4, 1994|Updated Oct. 6, 2005

The Miami Heat are starting to take the steps needed to be a contender.

The Heat completed the best road trip in franchise history Wednesday night as Steve Smith scored eight of Miami's 11 points in overtime for a 108-100 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The victory culminated a sweep of Miami's five-game road trip, setting a team record for consecutive wins on the road.

"If we would have lost this game, it would have taken away from all the good things we did on this road trip," said Brian Shaw, whose three-pointer with 1:26 left secured the victory.

The Heat tied a club record with its sixth win in a row, giving it a 31-25 record, the best ever in team history at this stage of a season.

But Miami, now in its sixth season, is happiest about the way this victory happened. The Heat recovered after losing a 12-point lead in the final six minutes of regulation _ a lead that disappeared when Isaiah Rider tipped in an intentionally missed free throw with 1.5 seconds to play.

"You never want to go into overtime," Steve Smith said. "But this shows how far we've come together as a team."

Around the league

Former Bullet dies: Clarence "Kleggie" Hermsen, the leading scorer for the 1948 Baltimore Bullets of the NBA, died Wednesday of cancer in St. Paul, Minn. He was 70. Hermsen began his career with the Sheboygan, Wis., franchise and played for eight other teams before retiring in 1952. Hermsen is survived by three daughters, three brothers and a sister.

_ TIMES WIRES