All the surly D. Wade haters are awfully quiet right now…LOL
— Michael Wilbon (@RealMikeWilbon) June 14, 2013
It’s been a long-time coming in the 2013 playoffs for the Miami Heat, but the player once called “The Flash” finally showed up seemingly out of nowhere against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
The “real” Dwyane Wade has been notably absent for much of the postseason – he has scored more than 20 points in just two of the last 18 postseason games – and that has especially been the case for most of the first three games against the Spurs, averaging just 14.3 points and 1.3 rebounds while being heavily shadowed by his opposite in Danny Green. It’s clear that something about his knee has thrown him off his rhythm, making him look more like an enhanced version of Larry Hughes than a player considered one of the best shooting guards in the league.
At least for one night, though, Wade came out with an aggression that the Spurs simply didn’t seem prepared for.
Be it playing alongside Mike Miller, who started Game 4 over Udonis Haslem to provide better spacing in the paint, or a prayer answered, Wade provided a much-needed performance on both ends of the court on Thursday with 32 points on 14-of-25 shooting, six rebounds, four assists, no turnovers, six steals and one block. That’s about as clean a game as you could play in the Finals, and it helped the Heat tie the series 2-2. The last time Wade scored more than 30 points in a playoff game was last season back in Game 6 of the second round against the Indiana Pacers, when he went off for 41 points and 10 rebounds to close out that particular series.
Wade was so much more than just a dominant scorer in this one. He constantly disrupted the Spurs’ offense with help on pick-and-rolls and made anyone that drove into the paint feel uncomfortable despite being one of the smaller players on the court. His energy on the defensive end was contagious, as even Chris Bosh got into the act – the big man rotated and contested shots with a purpose like we’ve rarely seen from him in the playoffs and finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Of course, LeBron James was right behind Wade’s act with 33 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. The Big Three may never have played better together on both ends in the playoffs than they did tonight.
So how did all this happen so suddenly when they failed so miserably through the first three games? Better defense certainly played a major role in helping the Heat get out in transition for easier baskets, but the biggest adjustment appeared to be the insertion of Miller to provide a perimeter threat to open up the floor more. Haslem played just 10 minutes of this game, and Chris Anderson never left the bench. Playing a smaller lineup forced Gregg Popovich to adjust, taking Tiago Splitter out of the game almost immediately as it began. Splitter played just 13 minutes and couldn’t find a rhythm for the entire game.
How both teams adjust in Game 5 provides great intrigue to an already-fantastic series. The biggest question, of course, is whether Wade can continue to play the way he did on Thursday for the duration of the series.
Heat hold remote Game 4 preparations
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