Look up the word winner in the dictionary and you’ll likely now find a picture of Dwyane Wade right there next to the definition.
In my recap of the loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night, I quoted the legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi, “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.”
There was no quit in Wade last night, and he and the Miami Heat found a way to win against the New Jersey Nets, 81-80, to capture their seventh win of the season.
Their record now stands at 7-2, and while they find themselves trailing the Atlanta Hawks (8-2) for the division lead, they’re on top of the world thanks to Wade.
Miami entered last night’s game against New Jersey after their disappointing loss to Cleveland, determined to return to their defensive ways.
The Heat had come into the game against the Cavaliers ranked third in the league in scoring defense, allowing their opponents only 88.6 PPG. They were also ranked second in the league in defensive field-goal percentage, allowing their foes to shoot just 41.5 percent from the field and a paltry 25.7 percent from beyond the arc.
They allowed the Cavs to shoot 48.0 percent from the field (including 47.4 percent from downtown), and score 111 points; definitely not the kind of numbers that add up to a winning formula.
They did hold the Nets to the second-lowest total of an opponent on the year, at 80 points, and kept them from shooting better than 42.9 percent from the field, but it was Dwyane Wade’s heroics that once again preserved a Heat victory.
In a furious back and forth affair in the fourth quarter, which saw 17 ties or lead changes, D-Wade once again showed why he may be the best player in the NBA, despite all the advocacy for Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
In the final moments of the game, Quentin Richardson’s banked-in trey with 25 seconds left on the clock had tied the game for the Heat at 78-78. The Net’s Brook Lopez then nearly stole the show by tipping in a Rafer Alston runner that just missed with 4.1 seconds left in the contest.
Plenty of time for the man they call Flash , as he caught the inbounds pass from Richardson, stepped back behind the arc and drained a three-pointer with just one-tenth of a second left on the clock to give the Heat a spectacular 81-80 victory over the winless (0-10) Nets.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra drew up a play for Wade to drive to the basket, possibly with the hopes of getting to the free throw line for a traditional three-point play: Wade had something else in mind.
“I was able to cut back for a split second and get to my comfort hand and shoot it,” said Wade after the game, adding sarcastically, “Just another day, another win.”
Wade’s three-pointer wasn’t something he took for granted, either. Although he is supremely confident in his abilities, he’s still the humble gentleman that has endeared him so much to his fans.
“God blessed me tonight with that one,” Wade said. “And I’ll take it. They’re going to beat somebody. We lucked up tonight that it wasn’t us.”
Considering how poorly the Heat played, Wade’s words were pretty accurate. Miami shot an atrocious 39.3 percent from the floor for the night, scoring just 17 points in the first quarter and 18 in the third.
Miami was without their starting center, Jermaine O’Neal, who sat out the game due to a bruised hip, and Mario Chalmers left the game early in the first quarter with a strained shoulder, but that certainly wasn’t a valid excuse for their poor play as New Jersey was without a number of players as well, including All-Star point guard Devin Harris, guard Courtney Lee, guard Keyon Dooling, and forward Yi JianLian.
Regardless of their poor play, the Heat still ended the night with a win, and Flash added to his legend.
Although he didn’t put up his usual scoring numbers, putting in just 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting (5-of-7 from the FT-line) to go along with eight rebounds, six assists, six steals, and two blocked shots, he did set a new franchise-record with his twenty-second consecutive game reaching the 20-point mark.
Udonis Haslem, playing more minutes than anyone else on the team due to the injury to O’Neal, and trying to back up his guarantee that he would be more offensively-minded this season, scored a season-high 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting (4-of-4 from the FT-line) to help Wade out. He also ripped down 12 rebounds to notch another double-double; his fifth on the year.
Quentin Richardson was the only other Heat player in double-figures as he scored 13 points on an efficient 5-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-5 from downtown in just 23:20 minutes of play.
Held scoreless against the Cavaliers, Q-Rich likely heard the grumblings from the media and fans, and decided to answer them. His three-pointer with 25 seconds left to play to tie the game had to have gone a long way in that regard.
Carlos Arroyo, logging plenty of minutes (37:10) because of the injury to Mario Chalmers, accounted himself well even if his shooting touch wasn’t there (3-of-10 from the field), scoring seven points to go along with three rebounds and four assists.
Michael Beasley struggled in the game, scoring just seven points himself on an atrocious 3-of-17 shooting performance, but did rip down eight rebounds to go along with three assists, two steals, and a blocked shot.
However, it was Wade’s heroics that saved the day once again. If not for Dwyane, the Heat would have been the first team this year to lose to the Nets, and that would have lingered even further than a loss to the Wizards would have.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Miami Heat articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
35 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete