Dwyane Wade scored a season-high 40 points and passed out 11 assists in a spectacular one-man Chirstmas performance to lead the Miami Heat past the Los Angeles Lakers 101-85.

Wade hit 12-of-20 shots and contributed four steals, four blocked shots and four rebounds while playing spirited defense against Lakers star Kobe Bryant in sparking the defending National Basketball Association champions to victory.

"This was a great game," Wade said.

"It's a great opportunity on Christmas Day. We wanted to go out there and take charge from the start and that's exactly what we did."

The Lakers, led by 16 points from Bryant and 13 from Frenchman Ronny Turiaf, fell behind by 14 points in the first half and could never overcome the Heat. Bryant hit only 4-of-17 from the field.

"We just try to throw different guys at him," Wade said. "He's got all the moves in the world. We're trying to frustrate him, keep somebody fresh on him and make him work for everything he gets."

Wade ranks fourth in NBA scoring with 28.1 points a game while Bryant ranks sixth with 27.8 points a game.

The Heat improved to 13-14, matching Milwaukee for eighth in the Eastern Conference with their first triumph of the season over a club with a winning record.

"We've been playing well of late," Wade said. "We're not looking at our record. We came out with a lot of energy. As long as we keep playing like that we will be all right."

Miami star center Shaquille O'Neal, who won three NBA titles while playing for the Lakers, didn't play on Monday. He has been out for more than six weeks with a knee injury.

The Lakers slid to 18-10 on the season. Only San Antonio, Dallas and Utah have won more games this season.

Wade scored 18 points in the third quarter as the Heat, who led 47-40 at halftime, grabbed their largest lead to that point at 74-58 on a Wade jumper before the Lakers trimmed the deficit to 74-64 entering the fourth quarter.

Miami's Jason Kapono sank three 3-pointers in the final quarter and finished with 11 points.

Turiaf jammed in a slam dunk over Wade off a no-look, behind-the-back bounce pass from Bryant to pull Lakers within 41-35 late in first half after they had trailed the Heat by as many as 14.

Bryant shot 1-for-9 from the field in the first half, managing only four points but playing solid defense in the second quarter as Miami went more than six minutes without a basket.

(CRI via AFP December 26, 2006)