NEWARK, N.J. — Dwyane Wade studied the sheet of paper in front of him, wondering if there was a mistake.
“Is this first-half stats?” Wade asked. “Nine shots?”
“That’s the whole game,” LeBron James answered.
Wade doesn’t need to shoot much anymore, not since James and Chris Bosh joined him to form a potential powerhouse in Miami.
James scored 20 points, Bosh and Wade were close behind, and the Heat ended the New Jersey Nets’ unbeaten start with a 101-78 victory Sunday.
Bosh finished with 18 points, and Wade added 17, both getting most of them in Miami’s dominant first half before sitting out the fourth quarter. James played a little of the final period and added seven rebounds and seven assists.
“The balance is what we are here together for,” Wade said, “to have an opportunity to make the game easy on everyone and we’re doing it. We’re playing great team basketball and we’re still not where we want to be, but we’re making sure everyone gets an opportunity.”
It was the most impressive offensive performance yet for the Heat, who have won three straight since beginning their new era with a loss in Boston on opening night. Miami shot 68 percent in the first half, when its Big Three combined for 41 points — one fewer than New Jersey — and the stats only lowered when the reserves took over toward the end.
Brook Lopez scored 20 points and rookie Derrick Favors had 13 points and 13 rebounds in the Nets’ first loss this season before new owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who watched his third game this week before heading back to Russia.
 
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