Dwyane Wade Goes Deep to LeBron James for Oop After Jump Ball
Dwyane Wade threw another deep ball to LeBron James in the third quarter of the Miami Heat's 114-108 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night. And as usual, LBJ caught the long bomb with ease before softly laying it in.
Who says football season's over?
The impressive play started innocently enough, with Udonis Haslem predictably winning a jump ball against Jeremy Lin.
But then, in one motion, Wade gathered the ball off the bounce in one hand and fired it about 70 feet to James. From a purely physical standpoint, it was an amazing toss. But the mental aspects of the play are more noteworthy.
James took off down the sideline at the very second the ball went up, dusting a casually jogging Omer Asik to the rim. Wade's one-handed fling led him perfectly to the cup, where he laid it in. Both players clearly knew what they were going to do before the tip, and they executed their plan to perfection.
And if it looks like the pair have been doing this for years, it's because they have been.
Honestly, we've seen so many long-distance lobs from these two over the years that some of the novelty is starting to wear off. CBS Sports' Eye on Basketball, for one, is running out of ways to get excited about the lobs between King James and D-Wade:
"Wade and LeBron just hit a 3/4 court alley-oop out of a jumpball. So that happened.
"
"— Eye on Basketball (@EyeOnBasketball) February 6, 2013"
Buck up, guys. This was an awesome play. Just because you've seen it so many times before doesn't mean it's right to dismiss it with such a mundane recap.
Heat reporter Tommy Eickhoff was similarly "blah" about the whole thing:
"The usual full court alley-oop pass from the #HEAT QB Dwyane Wade to Lebron James. #NoSurprise
"
"— Tommy Eickhoff (@TI760) February 6, 2013"
Man, tough crowd.
James and Wade combined to score 63 points against the Rockets, but none were more spectacular than the two that resulted from this play.
And hey, Houston's lucky; a pass and catch like the one we saw tonight is usually good for six.
