Look up the word winner in the dictionary and you’ll likely now find a picture of Dwyane Wade right there next to the definition.

 

In my recap of the loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night, I quoted the legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi, “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.”

 

There was no quit in Wade last night, and he and the Miami Heat found a way to win against the New Jersey Nets, 81-80, to capture their seventh win of the season.

 

Their record now stands at 7-2, and while they find themselves trailing the Atlanta Hawks (8-2) for the division lead, they’re on top of the world thanks to Wade.

 

Miami entered last night’s game against New Jersey after their disappointing loss to Cleveland, determined to return to their defensive ways.

 

The Heat had come into the game against the Cavaliers ranked third in the league in scoring defense, allowing their opponents only 88.6 PPG. They were also ranked second in the league in defensive field-goal percentage, allowing their foes to shoot just 41.5 percent from the field and a paltry 25.7 percent from beyond the arc.

 

They allowed the Cavs to shoot 48.0 percent from the field (including 47.4 percent from downtown), and score 111 points; definitely not the kind of numbers that add up to a winning formula.

 

They did hold the Nets to the second-lowest total of an opponent on the year, at 80 points, and kept them from shooting better than 42.9 percent from the field, but it was Dwyane Wade’s heroics that once again preserved a Heat victory.

 

In a furious back and forth affair in the fourth quarter, which saw 17 ties or lead changes, D-Wade once again showed why he may be the best player in the NBA, despite all the advocacy for Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

 

In the final moments of the game, Quentin Richardson’s banked-in trey with 25 seconds left on the clock had tied the game for the Heat at 78-78. The Net’s Brook Lopez then nearly stole the show by tipping in a Rafer Alston runner that just missed with 4.1 seconds left in the contest.

 

Plenty of time for the man they call Flash , as he caught the inbounds pass from Richardson, stepped back behind the arc and drained a three-pointer with just one-tenth of a second left on the clock to give the Heat a spectacular 81-80 victory over the winless (0-10) Nets.

 

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra drew up a play for Wade to drive to the basket, possibly with the hopes of getting to the free throw line for a traditional three-point play: Wade had something else in mind.

 

“I was able to cut back for a split second and get to my comfort hand and shoot it,” said Wade after the game, adding sarcastically, “Just another day, another win.”

 

Wade’s three-pointer wasn’t something he took for granted, either. Although he is supremely confident in his abilities, he’s still the humble gentleman that has endeared him so much to his fans.

 

“God blessed me tonight with that one,” Wade said. “And I’ll take it. They’re going to beat somebody. We lucked up tonight that it wasn’t us.”

 

Considering how poorly the Heat played, Wade’s words were pretty accurate. Miami shot an atrocious 39.3 percent from the floor for the night, scoring just 17 points in the first quarter and 18 in the third.

 

Miami was without their starting center, Jermaine O’Neal, who sat out the game due to a bruised hip, and Mario Chalmers left the game early in the first quarter with a strained shoulder, but that certainly wasn’t a valid excuse for their poor play as New Jersey was without a number of players as well, including All-Star point guard Devin Harris, guard Courtney Lee, guard Keyon Dooling, and forward Yi JianLian.

 

Regardless of their poor play, the Heat still ended the night with a win, and Flash added to his legend.

 

Although he didn’t put up his usual scoring numbers, putting in just 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting (5-of-7 from the FT-line) to go along with eight rebounds, six assists, six steals, and two blocked shots, he did set a new franchise-record with his twenty-second consecutive game reaching the 20-point mark.

 

Udonis Haslem, playing more minutes than anyone else on the team due to the injury to O’Neal, and trying to back up his guarantee that he would be more offensively-minded this season, scored a season-high 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting (4-of-4 from the FT-line) to help Wade out. He also ripped down 12 rebounds to notch another double-double; his fifth on the year.

 

Quentin Richardson was the only other Heat player in double-figures as he scored 13 points on an efficient 5-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-5 from downtown in just 23:20 minutes of play.

 

Held scoreless against the Cavaliers, Q-Rich likely heard the grumblings from the media and fans, and decided to answer them. His three-pointer with 25 seconds left to play to tie the game had to have gone a long way in that regard.

 

Carlos Arroyo, logging plenty of minutes (37:10) because of the injury to Mario Chalmers, accounted himself well even if his shooting touch wasn’t there (3-of-10 from the field), scoring seven points to go along with three rebounds and four assists.

 

Michael Beasley struggled in the game, scoring just seven points himself on an atrocious 3-of-17 shooting performance, but did rip down eight rebounds to go along with three assists, two steals, and a blocked shot.

 

However, it was Wade’s heroics that saved the day once again. If not for Dwyane, the Heat would have been the first team this year to lose to the Nets, and that would have lingered even further than a loss to the Wizards would have.

New Jersey was led by forward Trenton Hassell and Center Brook Lopez, each of whom scored 17 points. Hassell put his in on 5-of-12 shooting, while Lopez shot 8-of-18 from the floor. Trenton was perfect from the FT-line as well, going 7-of-7 from the charity stripe to go along with his six rebounds. Lopez cleared the boards for a team-high nine rebounds on the night.

 

The Nets’ reserve guard, Chris Douglas-Roberts was his team’s third-leading scorer on the night, putting in 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting to go along with his three rebounds and two assists, and Sean Williams and Rafer Alston also finished in double-figures for New Jersey with 12 and 10 points respectively.

 

New Jersey wanted this game against Miami, too. When Lopez’ tip-in went through with just over four seconds left, they believed they had finally gotten off the snide.

 

Starting the season 0-9 coming into the game, the Nets had seen themselves lose three games already this year by less than three points; a two-point loss on opening night to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and two heartbreaking losses to the Philadelphia 76ers in just the last week by three points each.

 

“I feel terrible for our guys,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. “We lay it all out there and to get beat like that, I’m just sick to my heart for them. It hurts. I feel so bad because the effort was extraordinary. We just fell short.”

 

They fell short because of a cold-blooded man nicknamed Flash .

 

They fell short because he refuses to lose such games if he can help it. Yet, even though he was the hero in last night’s game, Wade never fails to give credit to his team-mates.

 

“It would have been a bad loss for us had we lost this game. We had a lot of guys step up, make plays to give me an opportunity to hit my shot.”

 

Yes, Dwyane, they did, but it’s you who hit the shot.

 

Fellow Featured Columnist Hadarii Jones wrote a piece listing the ten most cold-blooded players in the NBA you can read here . In it, he ranks Dwyane Wade as his No. 2 choice behind his hometown hero Kobe Bryant.

 

This morning, I’d probably jokingly say to him, “Perhaps you’ll want to redo those rankings, Hadarii, my friend.”

 

Miami plays the Oklahoma City Thunder next in their final contest of a five-game homestand this coming Tuesday night. They then head out on the road the following night for an unusual home-and-road back-to-back to take on their playoff nemesis, the Atlanta Hawks.

 

While those games will both be tough, especially the second game against the Hawks, if we have Wade on the floor, you can be assured we’ll have a shot at winning them both.

 

He and the Heat are simply winners .

 

 

Heat Note: Daequan Cook returned to action for the second game this season against the Nets, logging 26:49 minutes, scoring two points on 1-of-6 shooting to go along with his three rebounds, three assists, and a blocked shot.

Quotes taken from Miami Herald and Associated Press recaps of the game.