Dwyane Wade's big game leads Heat to win vs. Raptors
MIAMI – The vintage model No. 3 Miami Heat jersey has more than a little gas left in the tank.
Dwyane Wade rescued Game 4 and perhaps saved the Heat from elimination in their Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Toronto Raptors.
In the third overtime game of the series, Wade scored a game-high 30 points, including the basket that forced overtime with 12.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Miami controlled overtime and ended up with a 94-87 victory. Goran Dragic’s three-point play with 22.4 seconds left and Wade’s steal and dunk with 16.8 seconds to go were the final five points of the game.
“He’s getting stronger, and again, it’s the work that he has put in,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You just can’t turn it on at this time of year. He’s put in a ton of work during the offseason. This is probably the hardest he’s worked. He has a great trainer. He’s very committed to it.
“During the season, this is the most he’s worked at it, and you’re seeing a residual from all that work.”
The best-of-7 series is tied at 2-2, and Game 5 is Wednesday in Toronto (8 p.m. ET, TNT).
Wade, 34 and didn’t have much offensive help – but he had just enough. Joe Johnson and Dragic each had 15 points in a game where strong defense kept offense in check.
Wade scored 15 points in the first half and moved past Magic Johnson and into 13th place on the NBA’s all-time playoff scoring list. "This is as confident as I've been all season," he said.
In Toronto’s Game 3 victory on Saturday, Wade scored 38 points, and Raptors coach Dwane Casey knew his team had to limit Wade.
“Different situations call for double-teams, blitzes, whatever it is to try and slow him down,” Casey said before Game 4.
If not for Wade’s performance in this series, Miami would be looking at a 3-1 deficit. Instead, the series has been reduced to a best-of-3. He is averaging 27.3 points and shooting 50% from the field in the series and has back-to-back 30-point playoff games for the first time since 2010.
“CB (Chris Bosh) kept coming up to me and kept saying, ‘If we’re going to go out, I want to go out with you having the ball.’ He kept telling me to be aggressive,” Wade said. “I was trying to read how the defense was playing me. They mixed it up pretty good. It’s not as easy as people think.”
Wade took criticism for continuing to shoot warm-up shots while a girl sang the Canadian national anthem before Game 3 in Miami, but he was standing with his teammates during O Canada on Monday.
"I didn't mean to do that at all," Wade said after Game 4. "No disrespect at all from me. I apologize for Canada thinking I would disrespect them as a country. ... I have so much respect for the Toronto Raptors, and I have so much respect for the country of Canada."
Toronto suffered from another poor offensive game from its All-Star backcourt. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, who is bothered by a sore right thumb, were a combined 6-for-28 from the field and 0-of-7 on three-pointers.
"When our two top players don't shoot the ball as well, and we had some tough turnovers down the stretch. I felt like we let the game slip away," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "That is on all of us."
Still, the Raptors owned a 77-68 lead with 6:40 left in the fourth quarter. Terrence Ross (14 points) and Cory Joseph (14 points) made up for the lack of offense from Lowry and DeRozan.
Wade then began Miami’s comeback with a floater. He had nine points in the final 6:24, forced overtime and helped secure the victory in the final five minutes.
"It’s just one heck of a series,” Spoelstra said. "Both teams and players are going after it. The series is complex. It’s changing fast."
It is a series defined by sub-par offense and injuries, and while competitive, it is ugly basketball, marred by inexplicable turnovers and 24-second shot clock violations. Credit the defense of both teams for mucking up the offensive side of the court.
The Heat went with Amar’e Stoudemire in place of center Hassan Whiteside, who is day-to-day with a sprained right MCL, and the Raptors started Bismack Biyombo in place of center Jonas Valanciunas who has been ruled out for the remainder of the series with a sprained right ankle.
Bismack’s contributions: 13 points and 13 rebounds. Yet, it wasn't enough, not with Wade providing reminders he can still be relevant.
"At the end of the game, there was nothing fancy about it," Casey said. "He put his head down and went to the rim."