WASHINGTON (AFP) - A strained left hamstring hinders Shaquille O'Neal, but the mighty center and his new Kobe Bryant - Olympian guard Dwayne Wade - have sparked the unbeaten Miami Heat to its best start since 1995.
Wade scored 37 points and passed out 12 assists, both National Basketball Association highs for the second-year player, and pulled down eight rebounds to lift Miami past Washington 118-106 here Saturday, improving the Heat to 3-0.
"Flash carried us again," O'Neal said. "Flash is a hell of a ball player. Nice kid. Humble kid. He deserves everything he is getting."
O'Neal contributed 13 points and eight rebounds but struggled with early foul trouble.
"I'm still playing with a bad leg. Sore. Real sore actually," O'Neal said. "A one-legged Shaq is still OK. While I'm fixing this bad wheel, I'm not going to take 50 shots. We've got a lot of other guys who can shoot the ball."
The hottest of them is Wade, a playmaking guard who handles the same role as Bryant did with Shaq when they played for the Los Angeles Lakers, who traded O'Neal to Miami in the off-season.
Unlike the often strained relationship between O'Neal and Bryant, there is a genuine bond between Shaq and Wade.
"He has been a big brother," Wade said. "We have similar personalities off the court. We have a great relationship. It just is. We don't have to try.
"Everything that happened in LA, I don't think about that. The Shaq I've known since he came to Miami, that's the Shaq I think about. I don't worry about nothing that happened in LA."
Wade was on the US Olympic team that returned from Athens with a disappointing bronze, but the experience has given Wade a lift for this season.
"Once I came back, I had to put that behind me," he said. "A lot happened in Athens that gave me confidence. I couldn't wait to get back."
O'Neal said Wade was overshadowed last season by the hoopla surrounding top draft picks and Olympic teammates LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, but has proven he can match their moves.
"It's all the hype. Those other guys had a tailwind behind them," O'Neal said. "He has done it the right way. He went to college. He plays hard. He's a good kid."
O'Neal has described the Heat as Wade's team, but the 12-year veteran's praise has not gone to Wade's head.
"That's just Shaq being Shaq. He's the number one player on this team," Wade said. "Shaq is the number one option. I don't want to be. I want him to be the number one option. He's the best player in the world.
"There will be nights Shaq will dominate and no one will even know I'm out there."
Wade, 22, had Miami's top one-game point total in nearly two years and is averaging 27 points thanks in part to the threat of O'Neal in the middle.
"When Shaq is there, even when the game is tight, you always feel like you can win," Wade said. "Shaq gives us a lot of confidence. I get more open looks than I've ever had before."
Jones scored 17 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, when O'Neal contribuited nine points, three rebounds and a block to turn on the Heat.
"Eddie was great in the fourth quarter, Dwayne was fabulous the entire night and Shaq made his presence felt in the fourth quarter," Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Dwayne is an outstanding player. He did get on such a roll."
With O'Neal out and Miami having squandered a 16-point lead, Wade had eight points in a 16-6 Heat run to regain control for good.
"I saw Shaq was out. I just did what I could to help us win," Wade said. "He got in foul trouble. We just went out and had to make the shots. It gives us confidence to know when he's on the bench we can still play well and win."
"We don't want to play games with him sitting on the bench," Van Gundy said. "He's not going to get into the flow that way."
O'Neal is worried more about getting healthy and having his team bond quickly.
"There are nine new faces here but seven of those nine are cagey veterans," O'Neal said. "Once we get more time together, we will be fine.

11/07/2004 - 20:28 GMT - AFP