Vintage Dwyane Wade returned for the Miami Heat to even up their first round series, 1-1.
No matter how you slice it, Miami Heat playoff basketball relies on Dwyane Wade.
Between Games 1 and 2, Wade filled his chalice with the same youthful spirit that Manu Ginobili and Vince Carter sip, turning his 11 points from Game 1, into 19 in the first half of Game 2.
His veteran leadership is immensely useful. Last night, Wade barked orders at Hassan Whiteside like his name was Mario Chalmers. He guarded any and all of the Philadelphia 76ers with total disregard of his age.
Wade’s unwavering confidence came alongside one of Miami’s best runs thus far. Miami outscored Philadelphia 34-13 in the second quarter, while holding the Sixers to a season low 42 points in the first half.
The toughest truth to swallow though, is Miami’s place in this series sans-Wade. Without Wade, Miami has a chippy set of battles, trading baskets with the hottest team in the league.
With Wade, however, the Heat have the superstar they’ve so been missing since 2016. His instant offense was the lifeblood of three championships, and in 2018 he’s earning his keep just the same.
Not to steal Kelly Olynyk’s shine, but there’s something particularly disconcerting about his team high 23 points in Game 1. Olynyk’s play is incredible as a support, but as a power forward, he relies on being invited to the table to eat. No matter how hot he gets, his offense is often a result of good teamwork and not a solo performance.
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When Wade found his rhythm in Game 2 by hitting his first seven shots however, he sentenced the Sixers to a defensive questioning only he could produce.
The method of interrogation? Wade’s lethal mid-range game.
Ignoring the revolution
It’s 2018 and the 3-point revolution has reshaped the NBA. Teams are explicitly shooting more 3’s than their counterparts, even just 10 years ago.
This year, the minimum was set to 22.5 3-point attempts per game by the Minnesota Timberwolves. In 2007-08 that bar was sliced in half – the Seattle SuperSonics shot just 11.5 per game.
The itch to shoot has spread to Miami, who are in the top-10 in attempts per game this season. For Wade, however, his game has never been beyond-the-arc and Philadelphia had a nightmare trying to stop him.
Wade’s lethality in the mid-range is an anomaly in today’s game. No one in the association attempts more than LaMarcus Aldridge’s 7.4 mid-range shots a night. And that number quickly dwindles scrolling down the list.
Since three is more than two, and an and-one can potentially be more than two, the mid-range game has suffered. Why shoot a two when you can step back a couple feet and get an extra point?
But just as scorers prefer the 3, teams are focusing on defending it. In Philadelphia’s case, statistics show Miami’s deference to the triple, but Wade’s pace-changing mid-range game left the Sixers’ defenders in a head spin.
In this season alone, 573 of Wade’s 684 attempted shots came inside the arc. With Father Time nipping at his heels, Wade’s preference to weave through the lane is apparent. As he did in Game 2, his stop-and-go dribbles puzzle even the longest arms.
At 6-foot-4 and with a history of playmaking, Wade’s mid-range game was frightening for Philadelphia for exactly three reasons.
Penetrating the top of the arc, left Wade with three options. He can pass, shoot and drive. Wade started the night hot, hitting on all seven of his first shots. Five of those were jumpers that left Philadelphia scrambling to discern his next move.
Here, Ben Simmons is expecting Wade to make a play to the hoop. He has backup in Ersan Ilysova, so forcing Wade into the lane, ups the Sixers odds of a stop.
Wade instead mocks the drive and crosses back to his left to step into an easy deuce.
Once the Sixers were primed for his mid-range jumper, however, Wade’s activated the opportunity to drive.
Marco Belinelli, positioned to stop a pull-up mid-range jumper, gets put on his heels as Wade breaks opposite of the Bam Adebayo screen. Expecting a Wade jumper as well, Amir Johnson rushes the free throw line, leaving Wade a clear path to the hoop.
Assisting off the dribble also became a threat. Late in the third quarter, Wade strolls to the free throw line. His one, two dribbles engage Robert Covington, giving Wayne Ellington enough daylight to slip away and bury a 3.
For Wade, these three options, shoot, drive and pass, left Philadelphia bewildered. In the same way Goran Dragic adapted to play to his strengths, Wade’s mid-range triple threat left the Sixers pressed to find answers to his game high 28 points.
After his Game 2 performance, it’d be ignorant to say Miami could succeed without Wade. His play elevated the Heat to snap the Sixers’ 17-game win streak.
Heading back to Miami, hopefully Wade is ready for the long haul. Beyond scoring though, Miami needs vintage Wade. His attitude, the same one that mean mugged purple shirt guy, flexed on Covington and Kevin Hart all night.
Next: Miami Heat: James Johnson is Game 2 X-Factor, what’s up next?
Game 3 is primed to be a bloodbath, but Wade has the bloodlust to lead his battle-torn band to a 2-1 series lead.