Heat-Celtics: Another Classic Game from Wade Would Breathe Life Into Miami

Dwyane Wade played the best game of his postseason career in what might have been his last in a Heat uniform had he not done so. 

Wade finished the game with 46 points, 30 in the second half, and Miami survived elimination with a 101-92 victory over the Boston Celtics in game four of their best of seven series. 

The Heat now trail 3-1 in the series and head back to the Garden for another elimination game on Tuesday. 

In a matchup that had been mostly one-sided until Wade exploded on Sunday with a franchise-record performance, the tides may be turning.

No NBA team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series, and while that dream is a long way away, a win in Boston would ignite a serious conversation about it. 

The postseason must be played one game at a time, but let's skip ahead just for a moment. If the Heat somehow win game five, do you really think they'd come back to Miami and drop game six in front of a volcanic home crowd?

That's got to be in the back of the minds of everyone in the organization, especially the players; win game five and it's a series again. This Heat team may need to climb Everest to get themselves out of the hole they've dug, but they'd be halfway up the mountain with another win. 

Unfortunately for them, the conditions look dire. It took the best postseason game of Wade's career to salvage a game that saw an early 18-point advantage turn into an eight-point deficit by the fourth quarter. 

The reality is that if Wade doesn't come out just as hot, the Heat don't stand much of a chance. Sure, other players could step up and lessen some of that burden, but no one on the roster has shown enough consistency in this series to give you the impression that will happen.

As it's been for most of the last four years, in Miami its Dwyane Wade or nothing.

That's what it boils down to when you ponder the Heat's chances in game five. Jermaine O'Neal isn't going to suddenly come to life, Dorrell Wright and Quentin Richardson should play well, Michael Beasley and Udonis Haslem could put up good showings, and you never know what you'll get out of Mario Chalmers, but at the end of that day none of that really matters. 

Because in crunch-time the weight of the entire franchise is going to fall on Wade's shoulders just like it has for his entire career. 

If he doesn't own the fourth, Miami will lose. 

Seven years into Wade's career, 86 games into the season, and four games into this series that's all the analysis that needs to be given. 

It seems unlikely he'll match his 46-point effort from Sunday, but if he comes close then the faint heartbeat of this franchise might grow a little stronger. All logic says this series ends on Tuesday and everyone in Miami will brace for Wade's free agent decision.

But when you're talking about players of Wade's quality, logic means nothing. 

So go ahead and dream Heat fans. 

Because if anyone can grant you a miracle, its D-Wade.