With the Miami Heat’s season on the brink, it’s all on Dwyane Wade’s shoulders
By Cory Sanning
The Miami Heat need another Hall of Fame moment from it’s franchise player in Game 6.
Just under 25 ticks to go in Game 5. Courtney Lee grabs the offensive board after a lazy box out by Joe Johnson. With momentum on his side, Lee swung the ball to Kemba Walker, and received it back wide open at the top of the arc.
Bottom.
A blown no-call on Dwyane Wade at the other end, and the Charlotte Hornets have now wheeled off three straight victories after opening the series on an 0-2 skid, heading back to “the Hive” with a golden opportunity to sourly end Miami’s season Friday night.
Wade has been in this situation before, as recently as three and four seasons ago.
Remember all the way back in 2012? The LeBron James-Wade led Heat without Chris Bosh (much like now, except he won’t be returning to knock down eight of his 10 field goal attempts for 19 points in a do-or-die Game 7 this time around), opened the conference finals 2-0, claiming the first two at home. Then the ailing Boston Celtics sprung back to life in Games 3 and 4, protecting home court and knotting the series at two a piece.
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Coming back to Miami, Boston would go on to stun the Heat, claiming Game 5 on Miami’s home court. A throwback Kevin Garnett performance and a vintage Paul Pierce moment had the Celtics one win away from one of the most improbable NBA Finals appearances in recent memory.
Then LeBron happened, and boy did he show up.
A possessed James came roaring out of the gates in Game 6 and did not let up. In what might be his most memorable postseason performance, James toyed with the Boston defense to the tune of 45 points, 15 rebounds and five assists on 19 of 26 shooting. The Heat would go on to win Games 6 and 7, and the rest was history.
Most recently, the Heat found themselves down 3-2 in that memorable 2013 NBA Finals series against the San Antonio Spurs, only circumstances were vastly different. We all remember Ray Allen’s memorable shot and James’ tour-de-force Game 7.
The difference?
Miami doesn’t have LeBron. It doesn’t have Bosh, and it doesn’t appear Allen is coming out of retirement to knock down jumpers anytime soon.
Goran Dragic has been erratic, Johnson has been inconsistent and Hassan Whiteside’s production has dipped every game this series. Outside of Luol Deng, no other player outside of Wade has been up to the challenge the Hornets are throwing at them every game.
It was never more evident than in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter Wednesday night. With 2:27 remaining, Wade buried a pull-up jumper from the elbow to give the Heat an 88-85 lead. Miami had four more chances to put points on the board, and failed each time down.
With extra help being constantly sent his way down the stretch, Wade tried and tried to get his teammates involved. The results? An air-balled 27 footer by Josh Richardson, a nearly botched possession by Johnson and a blocked triple by Dragic.
“I tried to trust my teammates in those instances,” Wade said. “They had two on me. Instead of playing hero ball and throwing up a shot, I threw it back to the guys that were open. We didn’t get great shots out of it.”
Outside of Wade, the starting lineup was a combined 19 for 43 from the field. The bench fared even worse, shooting just four of 19.
More heat: Hassan Whiteside accuses the Hornets of flopping
A much echoed theme for a majority of the season, the Heat are failing to pull Charlotte defenders out to the perimeter, a statement Hornets coach Steve Clifford echoed in his post game presser.
“We’re playing by the numbers,” Clifford said. “We’re saying, ‘You don’t have a lot of range shooters, OK? Shoot.'”
Miami’s anemic 27.8 percent rate from three-point land Wednesday night proved just that.
It’s gotten to the point where Wade is racing father time and trying to beat the Hornets at the same time, and that’s an awfully hard marathon to win while alone. Now 34 years of age, Wade can no longer attack the rim 20 times a game bang his body on defenders constantly. Aging gracefully, Wade relies on his veteran savvy and picks his spots to attack.
Not even a vintage performance from the 12 time All Star could pull out a ‘W’ on a night where Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lin combined to shoot just 28.5 percent from the field, a night Marvin Williams was Charlotte’s leading scorer with 17.
Wade didn’t sign up for it to be like this, and frankly, Heat Nation didn’t either, as told by their countless tweets of frustration built up.
“I don’t know where this team is at,” Wade said. “I wish I could tell you. This is the first time we’re going through this situation together.”
It’s clear it’s going to take more than just vintage Flash to bring this series back to Dade County for a do-or-die Game 7.
They need more from Johnson, who was brought to South Florida to solve this very problem he’s contributing to right now. For the series, Johnson is averaging just 8.8 field goal attempts per game, averaging just 11 points for the series.
Pat Riley needs Dragic, whom he’s backed publicly since his arrival in South Beach, to play like the $85 million player he thought he signed, not the one who’s shooting just 37.9 percent from the floor and constantly getting torched by Walker.
Capping it off, it’s vital the Heat get Whiteside more interior touches, not force him to create from the free throw line. Whiteside is much more effective when he’s involved in the offense and not just an afterthought that grabs offensive rebounds and blocks shots.
Everybody knows Wade will be there. Everybody knows he won’t quit or wilt beneath the pressure.
His 25 point outing last night wasn’t even his best performance in the series (28 points and eight assists in Game 2). Even after 12 NBA seasons, he’s got plenty more of these games in the tank.
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Come Friday night in Charlotte, we will find out just who the 2015-16 version of the Heat are.
It’s going to take more than just one, and Wade is well aware.
“It’s going to be tough,” Wade pointed out. “It’s going to be tougher for this team because we have never been here as a unit together in tough games.
“But you don’t run away from the competition. We’ll see what we’re made of individually.”
That we will. Come Friday night, the whole world will.