PHILADELPHIA -- Dwyane Wade sat alone, wrapping his 36-year-old knees in ice long after the Miami Heat practiced Sunday afternoon at Temple University. The media throng that covers the Heat seemed more focused on Hassan Whiteside's virtual no-show in the first game of this playoff series against the 76ers and the adjustments the team would have to make for this series to be competitive.
Wade's paltry 19 minutes in Game 1 didn't even register as a significant storyline at this stage in his career. That's about what he had been playing since rejoining the Heat after a midseason trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Anything more he could give them than that was seen as a bonus, not something the Heat could count on.
Fellow Heat lifers Alonzo Mourning and Juwan Howard each came over to him as he worked on his knees and stopped for a conversation. Wade will be joining them as Heat emeriti soon enough. Always welcome around the team, always a part of the family ... once their playing careers were over.
I asked him why he was wrapping his own knees in ice. The Heat have plenty of trainers for tasks like that. Wade laughed and said, "I like doing this myself."
After all, how many more times would he wrap those knees in ice after a practice? No, if these are indeed the last days of his Basketball Hall of Fame career, Wade is determined to do everything exactly the way it should be done.
Which is how he approached Monday's game against the Sixers. The Heat had brought him back for games just like this: down in a playoff series, needing a win at all costs and desperate for the type of calming, veteran leadership the three-time NBA champion can provide.
Wade delivered a throwback 28-point performance in 26 minutes off the bench to propel the Heat to a 113-103 win and snap the Sixers' 17-game win streak.
"A lot of people think that if you do decide to go out it's because you weren't supposed to be able to play no more. It's not always supposed to be that," Wade told ESPN after the game.
Wade said he will take time after the season to decide whether to retire or return to the Heat for one more season.
"Just taking time to think, that's all I'm doing," Wade said. "Taking time to think and looking at every angle and what's the best situation for me to be in. That's all. It's a lot of different, it's a lot of different things that come into play."
Dwyane Wade outscored Philadelphia's bench 28-24 in Miami's Game 2 road win to tie the series at 1-1. David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
If he returns for another season, he said it will only be as a member of the Heat.
"Someone like Vince [Carter] can go anywhere and play. Every year, he can go to do a different location," Wade said. "I can't hop to here and there. So it makes it a little tougher."
Wade already did that, leaving the Heat two summers ago to sign with the Bulls. He signed with Cleveland this past fall after working out a buyout of his contract in Chicago.
"I had my little college tour," Wade joked. "It's like a kid whose parents don't want them to go out of state, but they go out anyway and they come back home.
"I feel like my experience was what I needed. I feel like it made me appreciate, it made the city of Miami appreciate everything."
The city and the team definitely appreciated what Wade did Monday night.
Philadelphia led Game 2 by as many as nine points in the first quarter. But then Wade checked in, and he single-handedly turned around the game in the first half, outscoring the Sixers by himself 21-20 over the final 15 minutes of the half.
Dwyane Wade outscored the Philadelphia 76ers by himself in the last 15 minutes of the first half, and the 76ers never had a lead after that. ESPN Stats & Info
When Philadelphia made a 21-7 run in the fourth quarter to close to within two points with 4:29 left in the contest, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra brought Wade back in. From there, Wade immediately went into closer mode:
A steal off of Philadelphia forward Dario Saric that led to a dunk.
A pass to a cutting James Johnson for a dunk on the very next possession.
A key offensive rebound following a Goran Dragic missed layup that led to a second-chance scoring opportunity for Dragic, forcing a 76ers timeout with 2:25 left and Miami leading 104-96.
And then a 23-foot jumper over Ben Simmons to seal the win with 47.9 seconds left, trash-talking comedian and Philadelphia native Kevin Hart afterward.
"That's what defines Dwyane Wade," Spoelstra said. "We've seen that so much before over his career, and he's not going to be logging the 40 minutes a game that he used to. But in these compact minutes, he can settle the group with his experience and his level of experience just to add a little bit of calm for some of our young guys.
"It was meant to be this kind of game for every single minute tonight; he needed to reach back and have one of those games. He has a great maturity and great presence to understand that it might be different the next game -- and facilitate, he will do that as well. It was a very calming effect on the rest of our guys."
Heat veteran Udonis Haslem sits at the locker next to Wade. On Monday night, he marveled at the throwback performance.
"He's a guy that lives in moments," Haslem said. "When you think about the career that he's had, there's those moments. And when we're in those moments, there's no person I'd rather have on my side than him."
The Heat brought back Wade for nights just like this. He's no longer quick enough to earn his old nickname, Flash. If anything, his value now is in settling the team, slowing things down and mentoring the Heat's younger players.
"He's still one of the best players, but he slows everyone down," Heat forward Josh Richardson said. "When he has the ball, it's like he has his own pace. He never gets sped up ... I hope I get to that point one day."
According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Wade was 7-for-8 on midrange jumpers Monday night and 11-for-16 overall. The only three Sixers defenders who were able to force him into a miss were Saric (0-1), JJ Redick (1-4) and Marco Belinelli (2-3). Wade made all eight shots he took with other defenders on him, including both shots over the 6-foot-10 Simmons.
"I mean, he's my height, I have no idea how [Wade shoots over Simmons]," said 6-foot-4 Heat guard Tyler Johnson. "I think it's just years. The experience of seeing it. They've thrown every defense at him that he could ever see."
On this night, no defense, not even Father Time, was going to stop Dwyane Wade.
Dwyane Wade wrote it in silver marker on his black sneakers before Game 1.
“Moments.”
That’s what these playoffs are about for the 12-time All-Star and three-time NBA champion. At 36, he can’t go out and play 40 minutes anymore or put the entire weight of a playoff series on his back.
But on a night like Monday, with his team down 1-0 in a first-round playoff series in a hostile environment, Wade can still deliver moments. And he did.
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“It’s just in my DNA. I love the stage,” Wade said after he returned from the bench with 4 minutes and 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Heat clinging to 98-96 lead and delivered a series of huge plays down the stretch to push the Heat past the Philadelphia 76ers 113-103 in Game 2.
“As I’ve said multiple times, I play this game for this moment,” Wade continued. “[Sunday] night sitting in your room trying to think what you can do, what you can bring to this group, those are times that player s who aren’t playing this game anymore, those are moments they miss. … You’re not always going to be able to do it, but for the most part to be able to come through for your team when they need you to, that feels good.
“The reason I was brought here was for a game like this. When they cut it to two, to come in here and settle things. I’m glad I could do that.”
The Heat, which host Game 3 Thursday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, know they’re not going to be able to count on Wade every night for these kind of heroics. But coach Erik Spoelstra doesn’t care.
The Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade dunks the ball in the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers.
“I’m enjoying just every minute of this,” he said. “We’ve been through every stage of our pro careers together. I don’t know how long this will last. That’s why I want to enjoy it now. I want to make the most of these moments. It’s fun having him back part of the family. It just feels normal. Then again, it’s not the same role, it’s not 2009 Dwyane. If felt like he played 40 minutes tonight, he only played 25. It probably would have been less if we didn’t give up that lead.”
Wade's 28 points were the most ever scored by a Heat player off the bench in a playoff game. It's the second game in a row the Heat has set a new franchise-high for points off the bench after Kelly Olynyk had 26 points in Game 1.
Along the way Monday, Wade passed Larry Bird (3,897 points) for 10th on the all-time scoring list in the playoffs and now has 3,910 career points in the postseason heading into Game 3. Tony Parker is next on the list with 4,016 points.
Wade said his approach to Game 2 was simple — take the shots he knew he could make and then move the ball and make the right passes when he knew the Sixers would adjust their defense to key on him. He made his first seven shots and had 21 points by halftime.
“I was able to get them to go in early and the rhythm got going and now you're out there in your comfort zone and the crowd ain't even there,” said Wade, who took great joy in shutting up Philly fanatic and comedian Kevin Hart, who gave him an earful throughout the game.
SHARE COPY LINK Dwyane Wade talks to the media about Hassan Whiteside's dominant basketball skills as a center for the Miami Heat on Monday, April 2, 2018. Andre FernandezMiami Herald Staff
“When you got the crowd saying all the things they were saying. I heard a lot of things tonight and it was all just used as motivation. And to be able to hush a whole crowd, that’s a great feeling. That’s a feeling that I hope my son feels one day. It’s an amazing feeling.”
In the fourth quarter, it wasn’t as much about scoring as it was making plays. As soon as he came off the bench he ripped the ball out of the hands from Dario Saric and scored on a dunk on the end.
“I watched that play go down early in the game when I was on the bench,” Wade said. “I told myself if they do that play later, I’m going to steal it because I could see the pressure we were putting on the elbow guy and where that pass needed to go. It gave me a little time to sneak behind. I definitely took a chance. But I thought it was a good gamble.”
Moments later, Wade fed James Johnson for a dunk on a great pass and grabbed a big offensive rebound that led to a Goran Dragic jumper. Then he iced the game with a 23-foot jumper.
“He played superb in the first half, making shots, making all the reads,” Olynyk said. “In the second half, they tried to get the ball out of his hands. He made the right play, the right read, and we had to play and make plays from there. Guys stepped up and made some shots and made some big plays and cuts, that’s what it takes.”
Before the game, Wade gave his teammates a pep talk.
“I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was just to send them a message,” Wade said. “I wanted those guys that were in that lockerroom last year at the end of the season that didn't make the playoffs to remember how they felt. Now that we've got that opportunity, go out there and use that passion and go out and use that hurt that you had last year to attack this game. My message was about their families. Understanding that everybody in that huddle would do anything for their families, protect their families because we're brothers. So we have to go out there for each other and protect each other. And that's what we did.”
How the Sixers defend Wade in Game 3 and beyond will be interesting to watch.
Philadelphia had four players primarily on Wade in Game 2.
Ben Simmons covered Wade for 17 possessions and he was 2 of 4 shooting against him. The Heat scored 22 points a team during those possessions. Marco Belinelli and Robert Covington, meanwhile, had Wade for 10 possessions each. Wade was 2 of 3 against Belinelli and 2 of 4 against Covington.
Wade made the only shot he took during the seven possessions JJ Redick was guarding him. He also all made the three shots he took when T.J. McConnell and rookie Markelle Fultz were guarding him for a combined five possessions.
Whatever the Sixers decide to do in Game 3 to try and slow down Wade, he can rest easy knowing he’s at least shown his teammates the kind of intensity and precision needed to survive in these playoffs.
"Coach Spo always mentioned the vision of being a champion before you're a champion,” James Johnson said. “With Dwyane Wade on our team now, I don't have to envision it, I get to see it. It was amazing to watch him work tonight, watch him in an environment like this just kind of calm down. The bucket looked like an ocean to that man.”
Photo: Mitchell Leff (Getty)
It’s true that the Miami Heat dominated most of last night’s Game 2 against the Sixers, only wobbling late in the fourth quarter before being steadied once again by Dwyane Wade. It’s true that Wade was spectacular, and hewed much closer to the 2010 version of himself than the player he’s been recently. It’s also true that imagining the Heat and Wade reproducing last night’s performance three more times is tough to do.
Game 2 felt like a 99th percentile game for Miami, in which everything went exactly right for them. After getting torched for 130 points in Game 1, the Heat came out viciously engaged on defense, and spent the first half bullying the Sixers into submission. All those screens and pin downs that were producing wide-open looks from three in Game 1 were blown up by sheer defensive effort, and no Sixers player was allowed a comfortable second with ball. Philly scored only 13 points in the second quarter.
Ben Simmons had it particularly rough, getting mugged up and down the floor by the likes of Justise Winslow and James Johnson, who forced Simmons to shoot 3-of-8 in the first half. He was dealing with this shit almost every possession:
Meanwhile, Wade was out of his mind. He all but singlehandedly built the Heat’s 14-point halftime lead by going 8-of-9 from the field to score 21 points in the first half. He cooled off in the second, scoring just seven points, but showed up late with a few clutch plays to save the Heat as they were beginning to come apart.
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And that’s the rub: Despite how perfectly executed Erik Spoelstra’s defensive game plan was, and despite Wade’s unexpected and revelatory performance, the Heat were really circling the drain late in the game. Their double-digit lead felt oddly tenuous throughout the second half, and the Sixers were a bucket shy of snatching it away late in the fourth.
The thing about playing redlined, full-court defense for the entire first half of a playoff game is that it can wear the defenders out just as much as it does the guys who are being harassed. You could see the Sixers, and Simmons in particular, taking advantage of their increasingly fatigued opponents as the game went on. The Sixers grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the second half, and Simmons started going straight through the chest of whatever tiring defender was put in front of him. He scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the second half, and at all times seemed poised to stamp Game 2 as The Ben Simmons Game. Wade put a stop to all that with his clutch steal-and-dunk, but I’m not sure if it bodes well for the Heat’s chances that after playing so well for much of the game they had to be rescued at the last minute by their 36-year-old bench player.
Unfortunately for the Heat, they’ve got an even bigger problem to worry about. Joel Embiid has cleared concussion protocol and seems, uh, eager to return to the court. If you’re a Heat fan, you might be able to convince yourself that Ebmiid’s return will perversely benefit Miami’s defense—Hassan Whiteside will suddenly become useful, and they should have a few less multi-screen possessions to fight through—but then you’ll remember what Embiid is capable of doing for his own defense. Miami’s offense hasn’t looked great in either of the first two games, and the addition of Embiid will only make it harder for them to wade through the Sixers’ swarm of long, athletic defenders.
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It feels like the Heat have a much harder road ahead of them than any team that just flipped home-court advantage should. More than anything, that’s a testament to just how deep and talented this Sixers team has become. It takes maximum effort to beat even a diminished version of this squad, and now the Heat will likely have to deal with them at full strength.
When Dwyane Wade was traded back to Miami, it was supposed to be something of a ceremonial homecoming. No longer a great player, he would pick up some bench minutes and have a few moments here and there and offer leadership on a good team headed for the playoffs, but mostly, it felt like a scripted, romantic ending to a great sports story.
Turns out, Wade still has some masterful basketball left in him.
With Miami's 16-point second-half lead, and perhaps its season, slipping away in Game 2 vs. the Sixers, Wade went full Flash with three potentially series-defining plays to completely reverse Philly's seemingly unstoppable surge, and ultimately send this series back to Miami tied 1-1 for Game 3 on Thursday. With just over four minutes remaining and Miami's lead whittled down to two, Wade re-entered the game and promptly did this:
In a game that featured grown-man defense, on both sides, all night long, this was unquestionably the biggest defensive play of the night. If you were watching the game, you know the kind of energy Philly was riding. Somebody had to do something for Miami, and quick, and Wade leaving Ersan Ilyasova, who has murdered the Heat through the first two games of the series, to rush Dario Saric's blind side is a combination of guts and instinct that only the great ones tend to summon in moments like this.
It only took Miami's lead from two to four, but it felt like a 10-point swing. Miami was able to settle in with at least a tiny bit of breathing room on the next defensive possession, which led to a stop, which led to Wade doing this on the Heat's ensuing possession:
D Wade dropping dimes! 👀 pic.twitter.com/2Dl77Jw1L9 — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 17, 2018
So now the lead is six with three and half to play, and when Goran Dragic hit a baseline jumper a minute later, the lead was extended eight just like that. But Dragic didn't create the shot himself. It came after an offensive rebound by -- guess who -- Wade, to extend the possession. None of these three plays were typical highlight plays. Wade, for the most part, isn't that kind of player anymore. Hasn't been for a long time. He didn't posterize anyone or cross some poor sap over. He snuck up on an unsuspecting ball-handler for a steal, he anticipated an opening in the defense and delivered a pin-point pass, he scrapped for an offensive rebound. Those are simply winning plays by a winning player, and Wade, on of the great winners of all time, the Heat's Manu Ginobili, can still do that.
It was the rest of the game where Wade was dropping highlights, hanging Euro-steps and step-back jumpers on helpless defenders like he was kid again. Late in the second quarter, Wade passed Larry Bird for 10th on the all-time scoring list with this piece of work:
With this bucket, @DwyaneWade passes Larry Bird for 10th on the @NBA's all-time playoff scoring list! pic.twitter.com/4ceSLlavFi — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 17, 2018
All told, Wade posted 28 points, on 11 of 17 shooting, and seven rebounds on the night, leading a Heat team that saw six players score in double figures in the type of balanced, scrappy effort we've come to expect, if not fully appreciate, from this solid-but-starless squad.
Now the attention shifts to Game 3 in Miami on Thursday, and you have to wonder if Joel Embiid will be back in uniform for the Sixers. For his part, Embiid is making no secret of his diminishing patience with wearing a suit on the bench. His face might be broken, but the man wants to play. From Embiid's Instagram account shortly after Philly's loss:
Embiid was apparently not happy about having to sit out. Joel Embiid's Instagram
Yeah, Thursday night is going to be fun.
Until then, enjoy your full D-Wade highlights.
