MIAMI - All the basic tenets of Washington's winning formula were in place.

The Wizards forced plenty of turnovers, made repeated trips to the free throw line, and got big scoring efforts from Gilbert Arenas and Larry Hughes.

Against most teams, that would be enough.

Against the Miami Heat, it wasn't even close.

Dwyane Wade scored 20 points, Shaquille O'Neal shook off foul trouble to add 19, and Miami wasted a big early lead before pulling away in the second half to beat Washington 105-86 on Sunday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Miami.

"There's going to be times when we're going to look phenomenal and there's going to be times when we're not going to look as phenomenal," Wade said. "But as a team, as long as you understand that if you've got confidence in yourself, no matter if you're missing shots or turning the ball over, you'll be successful."

Washington trailed by 17 points in the second quarter, cut the margin to two by halftime and to one early in the third quarter. Yet the Wizards never led in the second half, and were doomed by two long shooting slumps - a 2-for-19 stint in the first quarter, then a 1-for-9 run to close the third as Miami pulled away.

Arenas had 25 points on 8-for-21 shooting for Washington. Hughes added 23, Antawn Jamison had 13 before leaving in the fourth quarter with a sore right knee, and Jared Jeffries and Brendan Haywood had 10 apiece for the Wizards, who were 26-for-36 from the foul line - compared to Miami's 12-for-23.

"We had looks, but they weren't going down," Arenas said. "We missed too many open shots."

That they did.

And the Wizards had no answer for Miami's bench, either; the Heat reserves, led by Keyon Dooling with 15 points, outscored Washington's backups 36-5.

Dooling hit his first five shots and was 6-for-9 for the game. He's 20-for-26 in his last four games.

"The basket's looking pretty big right now," Dooling said.

Eddie Jones added 12 points and Damon Jones 10 for the Heat, who overcame 15 turnovers for their first five-game playoff winning streak in franchise history. Plus, they're 5-0 against Washington this season and have won nine straight overall in the series.

"We had a little rust," Damon Jones said. "But we were able to get through it quickly and move on."

With Miami's lead all but gone, Wade got rolling in the third quarter - and just in time. He had 11 points and four assists in the quarter, keying a 14-3 period-ending surge that pushed Miami's lead to 18.

"I look at the first half and the second half as two different games," said Wade, who had five points and four turnovers in the first half, 15 points and no turnovers in the second. "The first half was the first game. I didn't do well. The second half, I came out and tried to be a little more aggressive."

Despite Wade's early struggles, the Heat - who hadn't played since finishing off a first-round sweep of New Jersey last Sunday - started strong. They led 26-18 after one, and hit five of seven shots to open the second, seeming poised to turn the game into a rout.

Rasual Butler's 3-pointer with 7:27 left in the half capped a 9-0 run and put Miami up 39-22, but the Wizards answered with an 11-0 run. And a 6-0 Washington burst ended the half, drawing the Wizards to 49-47.

Heat coach Stan Van Gundy gave his Wizards counterpart, Eddie Jordan, credit for the rally.

"Eddie does a great job when things are going bad," Van Gundy said. "They change their defenses, the pick up their energy level. ... Against a team like Washington, you've really got to stay the course. You need a 48-minute effort."

Washington dropped the first two games of its opening-round series against Chicago, before winning four straight to advance into the second round for the first time since 1982.

The Wizards know they're huge underdogs in the series, yet insisted Sunday that one loss doesn't dampen their belief that they can pull off a stunner.

"We have a locker room of guys that love the challenge," Hughes said. "We've been down. We don't feel like we're out. We feel like we can win a basketball game any given day we step out there."