He was talking about the officiating crew.

After blowing a six-point lead earlier in the fourth quarter and then falling behind by eight in the period, the Heat found itself down by the final score with 7.6 second left and the Clippers inbounding along the sideline in the frontcourt.

Unable to find an open teammate, and in peril of turning the ball over on a five-second violation, Clippers guard Baron Davis made a desperation pass.

Wade, who was defending the inbounds pass, stole the ball in midair, and, as he was falling toward to scorers' table, threw the ball toward the Heat basket.

With teammates Udonis Haslem, Shawn Marion and Marion Chalmers all in position to gain possession and dunk, a whistle was sounded.

Initially, the ruling appeared to be that Wade had stepped out of bounds after his steal.

But after the officiating staff convened, the Heat, indeed, was granted possession, with Wade credited with the steal.

Problem was, the breakaway scoring opportunity was lost, leaving the Heat to inbound at the point of Wade's steal, in the backcourt.

From there, the Clippers used an extra foul they had available, leaving the Heat to again inbound, this time in its frontcourt, with 2.9 seconds to play, left with nothing better than an errant Wade heave at the buzzer.

"We had a three-on-zero fastbreak and they didn't see the play," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Apparently, the confusion was exacerbated when Wade, after his steal, fell into referee Courtney Kirkland, who exhaled into his whistle. Under league timing rules, once a referee sounds his whistle, the game clock automatically is stopped.

"It was a missed call," Spoelstra said. "It's just unfortunate."

Wade, who tends to be cautious in his comments, said, "It was a clear steal."

He then offered a profanity, repeating it for emphasis.

"It wasn't even close," Wade said of any question that he might have stepped out of bounds on what ultimately was ruled his third steal of the game.

Under league guidelines, the Heat has no recourse via a protest.

"We were breaking toward the basket," Haslem said. "I don't even know why a whistle was blown.

"Yeah, it's tough, but there's a lot of things we could have done differently before that last play."

While Wade fell short on his final attempt, he did just about everything else he could, finishing with 26 points, 11 assists and six rebounds. He was supported by 24 points from rookie forward Michael Beasley, who scored 17 of those in the second quarter, as he played as a reserve for a second consecutive game.

Ultimately, it was a night when the Heat found itself with too much to overcome.

It was a night when Haslem had only one rebound through three quarters.

A night when Wade went without a free throw until 6:23 remained.

A night when Marion did not score until being awarded a goaltend with 2:49 to play

In contrast to that Heat futility, the Clippers got 27 points and 13 rebounds from Zach Randolph in just his second game since being acquired from the New York Knicks. Randolph started at center with Chris Kaman sidelined by a foot injury.

Former Florida State forward Al Thornton also had his moments for the Clippers, with 27 points and eight rebounds.

That allowed the Clippers to push through Davis' 6-of-21 shooting for only their second home victory of the season.

A putback by Randolph with 5:20 to play brought the Clippers within 86-84. Randolph then scored a 3-point play inside in transition to put the Clippers up 87-86 with 4:45 to play, sending Haslem to the bench with his fifth foul.

A corner 3-pointer by Randolph then made it 90-86 with 3:56 left. Thornton then turned a 3-point play of his own with three minutes to play and the Clippers' lead was up to 93-86.

A Marion 3-point play built off that Clippers' goaltend got the Heat within 93-89 with 2:49 to play. But a jumper by Davis put the Clippers up 95-89 with 1:57 left.

Later, a 3-pointer by Wade drew the Heat within 97-94 with 49 seconds to play. A jumper by Haslem with 7.6 seconds to play, after Wade unsuccessfully probed for another 3-point attempt, got the Heat within 97-96.

Then came the controversial final sequence, and the ensuing anger, frustration and, ultimately, disappointment.

Ira Winderman can be reached at iwinderman@SunSentinel.com

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