LeBron James and Dwyane Wade's 10 Best Individual Miami Heat Games in 2010-11
Through this roller coaster ride of a season, we have seen one element consistent of this Miami Heat team: just how good LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are as teammates. It's been no secret that even before this season that these two were arguably the best players in the world and they continue to prove that today as teammates. Leading the Miami Heat as one of the elite teams of the league, the dynamic duo of Wade and James have entertained and shocked us in every game they have participated in.
While they have developed into one of the most dangerous duo's in the league, they have still put on some of the greatest individual displays of the NBA season. With LeBron James setting the league high for points this season and Dwyane Wade performing a feat that has only been done twice in the past 25 seasons, the history books are set to be re-written by the time these two finish off their tenure together.
The growing up process has sometimes been a struggle to watch. The Heat community has grown frustrated by the lack of consistency of the offensive system that James and Wade play in, but they manage to persevere and win games through sheer talent. They continue to develop the chemistry that only the champions of the league possess and will have titles to back up their gawdy in due time.
As we continue to watch this team of superstars progress into the team that Heat fans hope them to be, we will always have the benefit of watching LeBron James and Dwyane Wade do what they do best on a nightly basis. Since the beginning of this journey, we have been able to witness just what the two best players in the world are capable of when on the same team.
10. LeBron James-November 9th vs Utah
1 of 20
Stat line: 20 points (5-18) (0-1 from deep), 14 assists, 11 rebounds, three blocks, and one steal.
Final result: Utah 116, Miami 114 (OT)
LeBron James' first triple-double as a member of the Miami Heat came on one of the worst nights in franchise history for the team. They had been up by as many as 20 points and were in prime position to win until Utah's Paul Millsap decided to go Reggie Miller on the Heat in the final minute. He made a series of improbable three-pointers and then hit a lay up at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Millsap's career high 46 points overshadowed James and his franchise first triple-double.
However, a triple-double is still a triple-double and those 14 assists remains as a season high for James.
10. Dwyane Wade-January 27th at New York
2 of 20
Stat line: 34 points (14-22) (0-2 from deep), 16 rebounds, five assists, and one steal.
Final result: New York 93, Miami 88
Another quality game wiped away by a loss, Dwyane Wade did all he could in the scoring column and on the boards to help his team pull out a victory. With no Chris Bosh, it was up to Wade and LeBron to pull out a victory. They led for the entirety of the game until the fourth quarter where they allowed the Knicks to outscore them 29-15. The Knicks defense swarmed James and Wade and neither player could get much support from their teammates.
Wade's 16 rebounds in this game tied his career high and remains as the season high for himself.
9. LeBron James-November 11th vs Boston
3 of 20
Stat line: 35 pts (9-21) (0-5 from deep) 10 rebounds, nine assists, and three steals.
Final result: Boston 112, Miami 107
Another fantastic overall game by LeBron marred by a Miami loss. LeBron has been the only consistent player on the Heat to torch the Boston Celtics which is a good sign of things to come if the two teams do meet up in the second round of the post season. James did all he could to lift his team up after trailing by more than 20 points, but he received little support aside from Udonis Haslem who poured in 21 points and 10 rebounds.
LeBron went to the line for 22 foul shots in this game and made 17 of them.
9. Dwyane Wade-November 9th vs Utah
4 of 20
Stat line: 39 points (12-23) (3-5 from deep), six rebounds, one assist, and two steals.
Final result: Utah 116, Miami 114 (OT)
A classic Dwyane Wade stat line where it just seems like every shot he put up was going in. You know a team is in trouble when Wade begins hitting three-pointers and it seemed that this would be an easy victory since Wade was leading the charge. However, Michael Jordan himself wouldn't have been able to stop Paul Millsap that night from draining every three-point shot he threw up in the final minute of this game.
Dwyane had all of the Heat's 10 points in overtime.
8. LeBron James-January 28th vs Detroit
5 of 20
Stat line: 39 points (15-25) (2-4 from deep), nine assists, eight rebounds, two blocks, and one steal.
Final result: Miami 88, Detroit 87
It's just another average day for LeBron James when he scores 44% of his teams points. Playing without Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, this game reverted James back to Cleveland mode as he was forced to pick up a team with a supporting cast that wasn't too much up to par. LeBron did everything he could to will out a Heat victory, but it turned out being Eddie House and James Jones who would do the work at the end.
House made two free throw's to give the Heat the lead and then Jones made the defensive stop at the other end at the buzzer.
8. Dwyane Wade-Februrary 25th at Washington
6 of 20
Stat line: 41 points (18-27) (2-3 from deep), five assists, two rebounds, and two steals.
Final result: Miami 121, Washington 113
He might have allowed Nick Young to score 38 points, but Dwyane Wade did everything on the offensive end to help the Miami Heat avoid an embarrassing home loss at the hands of the Washington Wizards. Dwyane was in classic Wade mode as he made 19 of the Heat's first 20 points of the second quarter, making nine consecutive shots, and eight of them in the span of only three and a half minutes.
It almost makes you forget that he missed six of his nine free throws.
7. LeBron James-February 8th vs Indiana
7 of 20
Stat line: 41 points (15-23) (2-5 from deep), eight rebounds, three steals, and one block.
Final result: Miami 117, Indiana 112
When you're dunking on your own teammate, you're due for a good night. Sure enough, James had an excellent night at home against the Indiana Pacers. Indiana led by as many as 15 in the third quarter before James and the Heat decided to take over in the fourth quarter. After three quarters of scoring 29, 37, and 31 points, Miami held the Pacers to only 15 fourth quarter points while scoring 27 themselves to pull out a victory against a determined Pacer squad.
He also did this.
7. Dwyane Wade-February 16th at Indiana Pacers
8 of 20
Stat line: 41 points (16-29) (1-4), 12 rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Final result: Miami 110, Indiana 103
We can sum this performance up in one play: Touchdown.
Miami Dolphin fans, I think we found our new quarterback.
6. LeBron James-March 18th at Atlanta
9 of 20
Stat line: 43 points (16-21) (5-7 from deep), three assists, and two rebounds.
Final result: Miami 106, Atlanta 85
It was just another one of those nights where LeBron James was planning on making just about every shot he threw up to the basket. This time, he only missed five of his 21 attempts and hit 76% of his shots. LeBron made all eight of his shots in the first half which was good for 20 points before scoring the rest of his 23 points in the third quarter where he outscored the entire Atlanta Hawks team by three.
A season high in points could have been acheived easily if his team wasn't up by 31 points by the end of the third quarter. That's right, LeBron scored 43 points in 30 minutes worth of game time.
6. Dwyane Wade-December 25th at Los Angeles Lakers
10 of 20
Stat line: 18 points (6-17) (0-1 from deep), six assists, five rebounds, one steal, and one block.
Final result: Miami 96, Los Angeles Lakers 80
Not exactly the best offensive game, but it was one of Dwyane's best defensive games of the season as nearly made Kobe Bryant a complete non-threat. He limited Bryant to only 17 points on 6 of 16 shooting and kept him out of his comfort zone for the entire game, allowing the Heat to take charge and control the tempo for the entire game. Kobe was clearly frustrated on both ends as he and his team combined to shoot 40% from the field.
5. LeBron James-January 9th at Portland
11 of 20
Stat line: 44 points (17-26) (3-5 from deep), 13 rebounds, six assists, and two steals.
Final result: Miami 107, Portland 100 (OT)
The Miami Heat weren't supposed to win this game. Not when they were down by seven with a little over two minutes remaining and not in one of the most hostile arenas in the NBA. If only LeBron James cared enough about that to not score 44 points on the Portland Trail Blazers, including a myriad of three-pointers in overtime that Larry Bird would tip his hat to.
Kiss my a** Portland was a nice finishing touch too.
5. Dwyane Wade-February 4th at Charlotte
12 of 20
Stat line: 22 points (8-20) (1-4 from deep), 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Final result: Miami 109, Charlotte 97
It's surprising to notice that triple-doubles don't come as often for Dwyane Wade as you would expect. In fact, this is his first in a few years since he always seems to come up a rebound or an assist short every time he attempts to complete the feat. It was just an ordinary triple-double that Wade acheived, but it was one nonetheless and it's a stat line that not many people have seen him do in awhile.
The win was a nice touch too.
4. LeBron James-December 25th at Los Angeles Lakers
13 of 20
Stat line: 27 points (8-14) (5-6 from deep), 11 rebounds, 10 assists, and four steals.
Final result: Miami 96, Los Angeles Lakers 80
LeBron James has gotten into this habit of having his best games on the road in the most raucous of environments. In his first appearance at the Staples Center in a Miami Heat uniform, James showed the crowd that the talents he brought from Cleveland every year to Los Angeles transferred over to Miami as well. With Dwyane doing the dirty work on defense, LeBron took over on offense, including notching another triple-double and hitting five of his six three-pointers in a decisive Heat victory.
If only he could have grabbed six more steals.
4. Dwyane Wade-December 28th at New York
14 of 20
Stat line: 40 points (13-28) (1-7 from deep), nine rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block.
Final result: Miami 106, New York 98
Dwyane Wade must have some sort of personal vendetta against the New York Knicks. He scored his career high of 55 points against them last season and gave just as good an effort in their December 28th meeting when he lit up the Knicks for 40 points. Even after the Knicks staged a comeback in the fourth quarter, Wade was right there scoring 15 of those 40 points in the fourth quarter to end any sort of a melt down.
As for that picture, does it remind you of anyone?
3. LeBron James-December 17th at New York
15 of 20
Stat line: 32 points (14-23) (3-6 from deep), 11 rebounds, 10 assists, and one steal.
Final result: Miami 113, New York 91
In his first trip to Madison Square Garden since spurning the New York Knicks over the off season, LeBron James decided to entertain the raucous crowd of what they could have had. Going in tied at halftime, James and the Heat decided it was time to pull away in the second half with a 33-17 third quarter edge and a 23-17 fourth quarter. LeBron once again took advantage of the jeering crowd by motivating himself to his second triple-double of the season.
This alley-oop wasn't too shabby either.
3. Dwyane Wade-March 20th vs Los Angeles Lakers
16 of 20
Stat line: 20 points (9-23) (1-4 from deep), five rebounds, five assists, four steals, and one block.
Final result: Miami 94, Los Angeles Lakers 88
Much like the last match-up against the Los Angeles Lakers, Dwyane Wade didn't exactly have the best offensive stat line. However, it all matters about what happened in the final minutes when Wade willed the Heat to a close victory against the streaking and revenge hungry Lakers. Wade hit a few lay-up's, while making two key defensive stops on Bryant to give Miami the victory that they were looking for after dropping five straight.
You know you have made a great play when you actually get the laid back Miami crowd out of their seats and that loud.
2. LeBron James-December 2nd at Cleveland
17 of 20
Stat line: 38 points (15-25) (2-7 from deep), eight assists, five rebounds, one steal, and one block.
Final result: Miami 118, Cleveland 90
This was supposed to be 48 minutes of hell for LeBron James. The Cleveland Cavaliers fan base was given their first opportunity of the season to rip into James for leaving them over the off season and embarrassing them on national television in the process. They gave James their loudest jeers, but LeBron gave the far better performance of the night. He only needed one half of basketball to quiet the Cavaliers crowd once and for all.
The 23 point third quarter was a good finishing touch as well. I say finishing touch because James didn't even stop out on to the court in the fourth quarter. By then, the damage had already been done.
2. Dwyane Wade-December 29th at Houston
18 of 20
Stat line: 45 points (17-24) (1-3 from deep), seven rebounds, one assist, and two steals.
Final result: Miami 125, Houston 119
Do you think opposing teams will ever realize that hurting Dwyane Wade only gets him madder and more hell-bent on beating their team? Dwyane Wade was hit by Aaron Brooks in the face, a hit that required stitches, in the fourth quarter and then led his team to a run-and-gun victory over a Houston Rockets team that just wouldn't go away.
The 45 points is still a season high for Wade and it made it all the more impressive considering that he just scored 40 the night before at home against New York.
1. LeBron James-February 3rd at Orlando
19 of 20
Stat line: 51 points (17-25) (3-5 from deep), 11 rebounds, eight assists, one steal, and one block.
Final result: Miami 104, Orlando 100
Why would anyone want to face an angry LeBron James? After Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic mimicked the photo shoot pre-game introductions that James used to do with Cleveland, LeBron decided that it was time for a photo shoot of his own. James hit his first 11 shots of the game and didn't look back to scoring a season high and NBA high 51 points against an unsuspecting Magic squad. Aside from just scoring, James came only two assists short of completing one of the greatest triple-doubles in NBA history.
By the end of the first quarter, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy had already thrown three different defenders to try and limit LeBron. As you can tell, it didn't work.
1. Dwyane Wade-March 25th vs Philadelphia
20 of 20
Stat line: 39 points (15-26) (1-3 from deep), 11 rebounds, eight assists, five blocks, and three steals.
Final result: Miami 111, Philadelphia 99
Over the past 25 seasons, there have only been two players to complete the stat line that Wade accomplished against the Philadelphia 76ers: himself and Shaquille O'Neal. It was a classic Dwyane Wade night whether he was hitting improbable shots, blocking the shots of 7' footers, or putting opponents on posters, he was absolutely electric giving the Heat a victory. Wade led the Heat to a 34-17 fourth quarter advantage to give Miami the victory.
The stat line that Wade posted up is easily one of the best of his career, in the NBA this season, and even in the history of the league.
