Miami Heat: Dwyane Wade feels good against the Toronto Raptors
It seems as though Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade likes taking on the Toronto Raptors.
Dwyane Wade might be doing #OneLastDance around the league, but facing off against the Toronto Raptors is anything but a new experience for the Miami Heat headliner.
In fact, the superstar has had quite a bit of success over the Canadian ball club.
And while he recently spoke on intentionally taking a backseat to some of the younger guys on the team this season, fans should probably still expect No. 3 to go off tonight.
After all, history does have a tendency to repeat itself.
4-for-7
The Heat have already matched up with the Raptors once this year, unfortunately resulting in an 125-115 loss.
However, the game wasn’t all bad, thanks to a certain veteran having put on a show.
On November 25, Wade finished with 35 points in 34 minutes, shooting a whopping 13-of-23 from the field, including an even more impressive 4-for-7 from downtown.
This was also alongside five rebounds, six assists and one steal.
His performance that Sunday set a new record for the franchise too, with the most points off the bench.
Fingers crossed that this evening, he’s able to do something similar, all over again.
38 in 36
In 2016, Miami played Toronto in the playoffs.
After a 4-3 first round series against the Charlotte Hornets, Wade and his Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. And although he had some big games versus the Hornets, he really grabbed the reigns in the second round.
On May 7, the Illinois-native recorded 38 points in 36 minutes of play, going an incredibly efficient 13-of-25 from the field (and 4-for-6 from beyond-the-arc). He also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
It’s true that Miami ended up losing Game 3, 95-91, but without Wade, it would have been a shorter series period.
Game 4
Remember how the Heat lost Game 3 of the 2016 Conference Semifinals to the Raptors?
Well, they bounced back and took Game 4, 94-87.
How?
In large part thanks to the guard’s 30 points in 39 minutes, on 13-of-24 shooting from the floor, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Yes, after carrying the team on his back just two days prior, Wade took things into his own hands again on May 9.
On the house
The 36-year-old’s good fortune against Toronto has a bit of history to it.
Because he was even scorching them as far back as four seasons ago.
On April 11, 2015, Wade scored 30 points in 33 minutes versus the Raptors, and it was mostly due to his aggression on the offensive side of things.
While he did shoot 9-for-20 from the field, what’s perhaps more important is that he went 11-of-14 from the charity stripe.
However, he was also rock solid defensively too, with six rebounds and one block to his name.
It sure seems like Wade enjoys this particular set of competition.
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The Miami Heat are tipping off against the Toronto Raptors tonight at 7:30 PM ET.