Miami Heat Need More Than Dwyane Wade Resurgence to Keep Series Alive

MIAMI — With opportunity to either create some needed separation or fall into a frightening hole, the Miami Heat came out Wednesday and played the game they wanted to play.

The jump shots that launched and misfired over the past two outings—both road losses to the Charlotte Hornets—were abandoned. In their place came hard-nosed half-court attacks, ferocious fast-break finishes and a certain brand of bully ball.

The Heat won every conceivable battle of aggressiveness: paint points (48-34), fast-break points (13-4), rebounds (50-41), free-throw makes (15-12) and attempts (19-15). And in true South Beach style, they evoked a vintage performance out of franchise face Dwyane Wade: 25 points on 57.9 percent shooting, a team-high four assists and five rebounds in 32-plus minutes.

All the typical Miami-must boxes were checked—except the result.

Despite carrying a lead through most of the fourth quarter, the Heat ultimately fell, 90-88, to the Hornets, the only visiting team to win inside AmericanAirlines Arena since the beginning of March.

The Heat had their chances. Wade's final bucket, a pull-up jumper with 2:27 remaining, gave the Heat an 88-85 edge. But Miami's final four possessions failed to produce a single point.

Charlotte sent extra help at Wade, daring someone else to win the game. He twice looked to his teammates and was twice left hanging—first a deep three-point miss by rookie Josh Richardson, then a blocked Goran Dragic triple in the closing seconds.

"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."

Truth be told, Miami didn't get many great non-Wade looks all night. Take his makes and misses out of the equation, and the Heat shot just 37.1 percent from the field and 27.8 from distance.

The Hornets once again overpacked the paint, and the Heat once again failed to pull defenders out to the perimeter. Echoing a theme that's been heard throughout this series, Richardson claimed Miami was "getting the looks we've wanted."

Unfortunately, those are also the looks Charlotte is willing to concede. The Heat found 28 uncontested shots on the night, but only converted 11 (39.3 percent).

"We're playing by the numbers," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said of his club's defensive approach before the game. "We're saying, 'You don't have a lot of range shooters, OK? Shoot.'"

The Heat only had three players hit at least half of their shots: Wade, Joe Johnson and Hassan Whiteside. But the latter two were both only 5-of-8 from the field, combining for 24 points.

It was further confirmation, as Ethan Skolnick of the Miami Herald observed, that the Heat follow Wade's lead at every turn:

It's at the point where Wade is racing against time to beat Charlotte's defenders down the floor and salvage the little breathing room he can get.

"I was just being aggressive, trying to get there before they got their defense totally set and have those attack opportunities," he said. "That was just my mindset tonight, just be aggressive all night, put pressure on them. ... They're a good defensive team. You're not going to be able to get anything you want in the half-court set."

Even with the mileage on his body—this was Wade's 157th career playoff game, 33rd-most in NBA history—he still seemed to have more bounce than anyone in the home white jerseys.

His throwback throwdown in the second quarter nearly blew the roof off the arena.

But his individual brilliance ultimately wasn't enough on its own.

And it won't be against a team with as many weapons as Charlotte. The Hornets withstood an off night from their star, Kemba Walker, who had just 14 points on 18 shots two nights after tallying 34 on 28. They got 17 points from Marvin Williams, another 14 from Al Jefferson and timely triples from Nicolas Batum and Courtney Lee.

Most importantly, they hit 12 threes as a team, seven more than the Heat could manage. That 21-point edge from deep outpaced Miami's advantages in both paint and fast-break points.

With the series shifting back to Charlotte, the Heat are now fully backed into a corner. Forget the win-or-go-home stakes; it's time to find road success that's been elusive all season in an arena that hasn't been kind to strangers. (The Hornets' 30 home victories were the third most in the Eastern Conference and sixth best across the league.)

"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."

And there are major questions whether the Heat can find enough offense to somehow string together consecutive series-saving wins.

They could use more aggression from Johnson, who's averaging just 8.8 field-goal attempts during this series, down from 10.5 in his 24 regular-season games with Miami. They need the Richardson who regularly torched the nets after the All-Star break and not the one shooting 31.8 percent from deep in the playoffs.

There has to be more interior looks for Whiteside, who always seems to find a higher gear when he's getting regular touches. Dragic must look like an $85 million player, not a 37.9 percent shooter with clear defensive limitations. The off-ball movements of Luol Deng and Justise Winslow have to create more scoring chances at the rim.

Wade has more performances like this in his arsenal. This wasn't even the best he's been in this series (28 points and eight assists in Game 2). But we'll find out Friday night in Charlotte whether the rest of the roster can provide the support needed to keep Miami's playoff pulse alive.

"It's going to be tough," Wade said. "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."

All quotes obtained firsthand. Statistics used courtesy of NBA.com.

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