That's right - count 'em - three straight games in which Wade's performance fell below his usual lofty standards. Maybe the guy is human after all.

Wade's combined 53 points in those three games - against Atlanta, Memphis and Milwaukee - marked his lowest three-game output since he scored 34 in a three-game stretch against Boston, New Jersey and Toronto during the middle of last season.

No big deal, said Wade.

"I've been in this league for six years," he said. "You're going to go through something like this as long as you play Basketball. It all averages out."

Maybe it was the timing of Wade's "slump" that bothered Heat followers, who didn't relish the thought of Wade and the Heat going into Friday's showdown against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers on a down note.

Before scoring 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting against the Bucks on Monday night, Wade had scored 17 points on 5-of-16 shooting at Memphis, and 21 points on 9-of-24 shooting at home against Atlanta. In the 21 games before that, Wade had been outstanding, averaging a league-high 29.5 points and earning two Eastern Conference player of the week awards.

In the first 21 games, Wade shot 49.9% and averaged 7.5 assists, but only shot 33.9% and averaged 5.3 assists in the next three.

Wade got off to a bad start against the Bucks as forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute drew an offensive foul on him midway through the first quarter. Wade got more pre-occupied with the referees as the game wore on and drew a technical foul from the bench late in the second quarter.

"Any time any great player gets a foul put on him early on in the game, I'm not going to say it's going to make him tentative, but it's got to be in the back of your mind," said Bucks coach Scott Skiles.

The Bucks thought one of the keys to containing Wade was to keep him off the foul line, and they did a good job of that as Wade made 5 of 6 free-throw attempts.

"The No.1 thing is you don't go for the shot-fake," said Skiles. "He has one of the best pump-fakes and gets you off your feet, jumps into you and draws a foul. When he's penetrating, you have to try and wall him off. Get multiple defenders over there so he doesn't get right into the restricted area, because then his athleticism and creativity just takes over and it's very difficult then not to foul him."

That three-game stretch was not the first time this season Wade's play did not live up to his expectations.

He was unhappy with his performance in the first three games of the season and, after meeting with coach Erik Spoelstra, Wade scored 30 or more points in four straight games. Also, after scoring 12 points in a blowout loss to Portland, he rebounded with a season-high 43 points against Phoenix.

Wade knows what to do when things are not going quite right for him.

"The only thing I can do is continue to get going," he said. "Continue to keep shooting. Continue to keep driving to the basket. Hopefully things will go my way."

Ho-Ho-Ho

Yes, the Utah Jazz will be home for Christmas. Since the 1984-'85 season, the Jazz has taken an extended trip before Christmas to get the players away from potential distractions at home related to the holiday. Utah ends its five-game trip Tuesday at the Bradley Center, and while coach Jerry Sloan admits the holiday trek may initially have been about lessening the distractions, he's not convinced it works that way anymore.

"I think that was one of the things in the beginning," said Sloan. "But I'm not sure that happens anymore. Sometimes our team does more shopping on the road than at home. You can't get the bags on the bus."

Gravy for Roy

Not only did Portland's Brandon Roy have a career night by going for 52 points last week, but he did it against Phoenix, which had beaten the Trail Blazers in their 11 previous meetings.

"I need this one," said Roy, who hung onto the game ball afterward. "I haven't beaten Phoenix since I've been in the NBA. This is the best day of my career."

It was the highest-scoring game in Rose Garden history and fell two points shy of the franchise record set by Damon Stoudamire at New Orleans in 2005. Roy's 52 points are the most scored in a regulation game in the league this season.

"I've never scored (that many), even in little league," said Roy.

Mr. Angry

The mood was a bit more somber in the visitors locker room after Roy's outburst, as the loss to Portland dropped the Suns' record to 15-11. Roy became the fourth Suns opponent to score at least 39 points against them in the last three weeks.

"Yeah, I'm pissed off, 15-11 is not (expletive) acceptable to me," said Phoenix center Shaquille O'Neal. "We gave about eight games away. We've just got to pick it up. We've got to learn how to defend, how to stop people, how to rebound and everything."

A bumpy ride

The Trail Blazers retired Terry Porter's No. 30 jersey during halftime of a game against Sacramento last week, and Porter, flanked by several of his former teammates, got so long-winded thanking people and telling stories that the halftime break had to be extended so the teams could warm up.

Porter is the team's all-time assists leaders, was a two-time all-star in Portland and helped the Blazers get to the NBA Finals twice.

"Those were great teams," said Porter. "More important, there were great guys on those teams. We played and had a common goal to achieve something. Everyone talks about the journey. The journey itself meant a lot to us all. We all enjoyed the many rides and the bumps we had along the way."

Numbers game

When Utah was in New Jersey last week, reporters asked Nets coach Lawrence Frank if he knew how many coaching changes there had been in the league during Sloan's 20-year tenure in Utah. After Frank guessed 256, he was told that the actual number was 225.

"Well, maybe there will be 25 more tomorrow," said Frank.

Home, sweet home?

The Toronto Raptors are thinking it might not be such a bad thing that they are on a six-game trip since they have been playing so poorly at home that they were getting booed.

"I think it's a good thing for us playing on the road right now," said Toronto's Chris Bosh. "If I wanted to get booed, I'd go on the road. It's real tense (at home) right now. When you're down three points at home and you're hearing boos, that's kind of disheartening."

Talking trash

Stephon Marbury, Spike Lee and Chris Rock were among those seated courtside when the Knicks played the Lakers at the Staples Center and, according to Kobe Bryant, Rock was "running his mouth a little bit" during the game.

"At the end I asked him if he got his money's worth," said Bryant. "He said he did and I told him to take his (butt) home then."

Fast breaks

* The first steal of Chris Paul's record-setting streak came April 13, 2007, at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City when Paul stole the ball from Denver's Allen Iverson with 8:34 left in the first quarter.

* Chicago general manager John Paxson admits he's actively seeking trades to bring in players that will fit around point guard Derrick Rose.

* Suns 36-year-old forward Grant Hill on his preference to start because he's already warmed up: "I need that 20-minute layup line."

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