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Miami Beats Toronto with Shaquille`s Second Triple-Double

Shaquille O`Neal scored his second triple-double and pushed the Miami Heat to victory demonstrating great ability, or "simple basketball" like the player said. O`Neal made a 15-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist effort in 28 minutes -- and Antoine Walker busted out of his slump with a season-high 32 points as the Miami Heat overcame Dwyane Wade`s absence to beat Toronto 106-97 on Tuesday night and send the Raptors to their ninth straight loss. Wade, fifth in the NBA with 27.5 points per game, stayed home to continue fighting a flu-like virus that has hampered him for several days.

The Raptors double-teamed O`Neal nearly every time he touched the ball, so the Heat center relied on brain over brawn and simply found the open teammates. He set Walker up for two layups and a dunk, found Udonis Haslem for two layups, set up Shandon Anderson twice for scores, Gary Payton once for a jumper and connected with Derek Anderson twice for first-half 3-pointers that stopped a Raptors` rally. While the Raptors remained horrid, Mike James stayed torrid for the Raptors. He scored 32 points, his fourth straight game cracking the 30-point mark, and Morris Peterson added 23 for Toronto -- which stayed close by hitting 13 3-pointers.

James ran over to congratulate O`Neal when the game ended, and the Raptors kept lobbing praise Shaq`s way afterward. "You double him, and he shows what he can do passing-wise," Peterson said. "That`s why he`s a Hall of Famer. He`s a guy who gets the job done. He picked us apart."