MIAMI – They gave away a 17-point lead, turned the ball over 15 times, got nothing resembling dominance from either Shaquille O’Neal or Dwyane Wade, and kept sending the Washing ton Wizards to the foul line. And still, the Miami Heat won with ease.

Wade overcame a tough start to score 20 points and O’Neal added 19 to lead five Miami players in double figures, and the Heat defeated Washington 105-86 yesterday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal.

Keyon Dooling added 15 points, Eddie Jones had 12, and Damon Jones 10 for the Heat, who’ve won five straight playoff games for the first time in franchise history and are 5-0 against Washington this season.

Miami has also won 22 of 23 at home.

“Everybody coming off that bench, they’re very hungry and prepared,” said Heat backup center Alonzo Mourning, who had seven points and three blocked shots in 16 minutes. “They know what the goal is. Nothing but a championship.”

Gilbert Arena had 25 points – on 8-for-21 shooting – for Washington, which has lost 12 of its last 14 in Miami. Larry Hughes added 23 for the Wizards, Antawn Jamison had 13, and Jared Jeffries and Brendan Haywood added 10 apiece.

While Washington’s starters played Miami’s first five pretty evenly, the Wizards got hardly any production from their bench. That was the difference.

Miami’s reserves outscored Washington’s 36-5, led by Dooling – who was 6-for-9 off the bench for Miami; he’s 20-for-26 from the floor in his last four playoff games.

“We gave them a run for their money, 36-5” Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said sarcastically. “We always have an ‘X’ factor. Today we had a ‘Z’ factor – zero.”

Washington missed 17 of 19 shots during one stretch of the opening period, finishing the quarter 5-for-23 (21.7%) from the field. Miami, meanwhile, hit 12 of its 21 shots in the opening quarter, taking a 26-18 lead after the period.

And the Wizards probably felt fortunate to be down by only eight at that point. In the opening quarter, Miami was 0-for-4 from 3-point range, 2-for-5 from the line, O’Neal missed a dunk and Wade – who missed eight of his first 10 shots before warming up in the second half – managed only four points.

Miami hit five of its first seven shots in the second quarter and seemed poised to turn the game into a rout. Rasual Butler’s 3-pointer from the right wing with 7:27 left in the half capped a 9-0, 83-second run that pushed Miami’s lead to 39-22.

Jordan called a time-out, and whatever he said worked wonders.

Washington scored the next 11 points, including a pair of tough shots around the basket from Jamison and a 3-pointer – the Wizards’ first of the game – by Arenas. The Wizards turned Miami’s seven second-quarter turnovers into 11 points and ended the half on a 6-0 spurt, clawing within 49-47 at the break.

Haywood’s three-point play with 11:15 left in the third drew Washington within 51-50, but the Wizards never took the lead – and Miami soon pulled away again, this time for good.