As Brian Martin of NBA.com noted, while James has elevated his game over the course of the season, the Heat’s win streak directly overlaps with Wade’s increase in performance and efficiency this season.
- November: 17.1 points, 4.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 46 percent shooting
- February: 23.9 points, 5.5 assists, 6.2 rebounds, 53 percent shooting
- March: 24.7 points, 8.7 assists, 6.3 rebounds, 58 percent shooting
Wade’s on-court OffRtg and NetRtg have both gone up with each month of the season total a remarkable 120.3 OffRtg and 17.3 NetRtg in February when the Heat went 12-1.
Wade has also performed in the clutch for Miami, despite most of their 15-game win-streak coming in blowout fashion. 10-of-15 games have featured clutch time (last five minutes, including OT, +/- 5 points), and in those situations Wade’s efficiency has been more than impressive:
- OffRtg: 153.3
- DefRtg: 91.4
- NetRtg: 43.8
- eFG%: 71.4%
It’s no surprise that Wade has performed to this caliber in the clutch, though. He was touted from the start as Miami’s go-to player for a reason, and his quarter-by-quarter numbers show that his fourth quarter has been his best throughout the streak in almost every category.
After seeing Wade rise to the rim at will Monday night in Minnesota, it seems as if the concern and criticism about his declining game has been buried in the past.
It was just a few short months ago that Charles Barkley said that D-Wade is not the player that he once was.
Barkley is right.
D-Wade is elevating past that.
More from around the NBA after the jump