Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat defeated the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6 on Friday night to force a Game 7 in the first round series. Wade played 39 minutes and scored 41 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished off two assists. The Heat’s superstar, who led the NBA in scoring this season, is now averaging 28.8 points per game in the playoffs.

Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat (Image: Newscom)

The Heat led 32-18 after the end of the first quarter and the Hawks struggled to mount any sort of comeback. The second half was dominated by Miami and they were able to post a resounding 98-72 win.

Helping out Wade was rookie Michael Beasley. The second overall pick in the draft scored 22 points and pulled down 15 rebounds off the bench.

The Hawks were led by Mike Bibby’s 20 points, while Joe Johnson and Flip Murray both scored 13 points. Atlanta played without starting center Al Horford due to a sore foot. Marvin Williams was only able to play five minutes due to a wrist injury.

Game 7 will be played in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon.

Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
Derrick Rose started the season with a lot of exciting performances and a lot of people automatically gave him the NBA Rookie of the Year award. Since then, he’s had some bad outings and his defense has been exposed as non-existent. That said, he’ll still probably win it.

OJ Mayo, Memphis Grizzlies
In college, everyone thought OJ Mayo was a ballhogging moron. But on the NBA level, he has proven that sentiment to be wrong. He’s been a very smart scorer who doesn’t overly force the action. Playing in Memphis hurts his chances.

Greg Oden, Portland Trail Blazers
Greg Oden was one of the most hyped rookies of the past 20 years coming into this season. But after getting hurt early on and not doing much since getting healthy, Oden still has a lot to prove before he could win the Rookie of the Year award. That said, if he gets on a dominant streak, he still has a chance.

Michael Beasley, Miami Heat
The Heat have made sure that Michael Beasley only gets to play when he’s defending. For that reason, his minutes have been somewhat sporadic. When he plays, Beasley has been pretty darn good. He can score from many spots on the court and can also rebound better than his size would indicate.

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