LOS ANGELES, 1 January 2005 — Dwyane Wade’s first NBA career triple-double kept the Miami Heat red-hot. Wade collected 31 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds as the Heat extended their franchise-record winning streak to 13 games with an 89-78 victory over the host Detroit Pistons yesterday.

“It feels good to get my first triple-double in the NBA because I got it out of the way and it shows you’re playing a team game,” said Wade, who hit 12-of-18 field goals and seven of 10 free throws in 42 minutes. “My team needed me to step up tonight and I tried to do that.”

Heat coach Stan Van Gundy praised his speedy second-year guard. “To have that kind of night, with that kind of efficiency, against a great defensive team like that shows you what kind of player he has become,” he said. He wasn’t trying to take over the game, he was taking what was there.

Shaquille O’Neal scored 21 points on 9-of-21 shooting despite nursing sore ribs, and Udonis Haslem added 16 for Miami, (24-7), which had dropped its previous six meetings against the defending NBA champions, including a 78-77 decision on November 26.

“I missed shots I normally make, then Flash saved the day,” O’Neal said, referring to Wade. “Flash, he’s an MVP candidate.”

The Heat trailed 76-71 with 7:25 left in the game before Wade scored nine points, and O’Neal added five in a game-ending 18-2 run, to finish out its best December (14-1) in team history.

“We’re playing team ball, we’re digging in, in the fourth quarter, grabbing rebounds when we need them, and making the plays down the stretch,” Wade said. We’ve been real focused at the end of the game, and hoping it continues.”

Richard Hamilton netted 19 points to lead Detroit, which had its three-game winning streak snapped after being outscored 22-9 in the final quarter, on just three-of-22 shooting. Rasheed Wallace had 13 and 11 rebounds while Ben Wallace added 13 and nine rebounds.

“We had control and we lost it,” Ben Wallace said. “This is one of those games we will talk about for a while.”

Pacers 96 Nets 83: Jermaine O’Neal scored 31 points, leading the Pacers to their third straight victory, just hours after a judge ruled the All-Star forward didn’t have to serve the final 10 games of a 25-game suspension received from the infamous November 19 fight against fans in Detroit.

Jeff Foster had 16 points and a season-best 16 rebounds for Indiana, while Jamaal Tinsly added 15 points.

Vince Carter led New Jersey with 25 points in his home debut. Richard Jefferson and Rodney Buford added 20 apiece. Jason Kidd scored just four points but grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out 10 assists.

Spurs 114 Trail Blazers 80: Tim Duncan had 19 points and nine rebounds, while Tony Parker added 15 of his 18 points in the first half, leading the Spurs to a wire-to-wire rout over the Trail Blazers.

Argentine ace Manu Ginobili missed the game with a stiff neck, but that didn’t slow down San Antonio, which improved to a franchise-best start (24-6) following its seventh victory in the last eight games.

Darius Miles scored 17 points while Shareef Abdur-Rahim added 14 and 10 boards for host Portland, which suffered its most lopsided loss of the season.

SuperSonics 94 Hawks 79: Ray Allen scored 20 points and Rashard Lewis added 17 as the SuperSonics grounded the host Hawks despite late ejections to Jerome James and Danny Fortson.

Antoine Walker had 19 points and 11 rebounds for lowly Atlanta, (5-23), which occupies the Eastern Conference cellar.

Yao Leads Shaq by 60,000 in All-Star Voting

Meantime, Yao Ming is more than 60,000 votes ahead of Shaquille O’Neal in the race to finish No. 1 overall in NBA All-Star game balloting.

Through two rounds of voting, Yao — the center for the Western Conference’s Houston Rockets — has 1,373,458. O’Neal, traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Miami Heat in the offseason, tops the Eastern Conference with 1,311,762 as of yesterday.

Yao’s lead among centers in the West is seemingly insurmountable: Sacramento’s Brad Miller is second with 197,784 votes.

Fans can vote through Jan. 23, and All-Star starters will be announced Feb. 3. The game is Feb. 20 in Denver.

Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett, the reigning league MVP, is third overall, leading West forwards with 1,142,804 votes, followed by San Antonio’s Tim Duncan (886,547).

Yao’s teammate Tracy McGrady (1,065,230) is the top guard in the West, trailed by the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (1,005,050).

In the East, New Jersey’s Vince Carter (938,817) and Orlando’s Grant Hill (848,061) lead the forwards, while Cleveland’s LeBron James (843,363) and Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson (825,179) top the guards.