Wade’s knee hurting after Game 3 comeback
Miami scoring star expects to be ready for Game 4 tonight
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Tom Withers
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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MIAMI — Favoring a stiff left knee, Dwyane Wade hobbled to the yellow maintenance cart and slipped onto its flatbed. He propped himself up against the front seat and settled back for the short ride to the Heat’s locker room.
"Can I drive?" Wade asked. "I always wanted to drive one of these things."
Sorry, not today, he was told.
Wade’s request will have to wait. Right now, the only significant driving the Heat wants to see from its flashy guard is toward the basket.
One day after salvaging Miami’s season with a 42-point, 13-rebound performance in Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, Wade spent yesterday getting treatment on his aching left knee, which was injured when teammate Shaquille O’Neal accidentally fell into his leg.
"I was a little nervous about it this morning," Wade said, gingerly running his fingers across the black tights over his knee. "But I’m going to try and go. Hopefully I can be 100 percent."
Hope isn’t enough in these parts. Considering the stakes in Game 4, prayer might be required of the Heat faithful.
Although he wasn’t at full speed late in Tuesday’s game, Wade brought his team back from the edge of almost certain extinction by scoring 15 points — 12 in the final 6:34 — in the fourth quarter to rally Miami from a 13-point hole and help the Heat narrow its deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
According to the league, it was the second largest fourth-quarter comeback in Finals history, and, it was the latest testament to Wade’s soaring status as one of the game’s best clutch players.
"He’s just fabulous," O’Neal said. "He’s a great one. And he’s so young with a lot of room to improve. It’s going to be fun to watch him."
Beg your pardon, Diesel. He already is.
In the final 12 minutes, with a nonexistent margin for error and the stakes as high as possible, Wade, slowed by flulike symptoms during these playoffs, was magnificent from start to finish.
Seizing control of the game, the 24- year-old simply would not allow the Heat to lose.
He made jumpers. He darted for layups. He grabbed rebounds. He even tipped away the Mavericks’ last-second inbounds play.
Unstoppable, Wade evoked the usual comparisons to Michael Jordan, a parallel he’s not comfortable with at all.
"No one should be compared to MJ, man," he said. "There will only ever be one MJ. That’s it. I’m not him."
With the Mavericks leading 77-68 after three quarters, Wade opened the final period by draining his lone threepointer on Miami’s first possession — a basket that instantly ignited the Heat’s comeback chances.
However, less than one minute later, he picked up his fifth foul, a personal that for a moment turned the crowd in AmericanAirlines Arena as white as their playoff-fashionable clothing.
Wade, though, ignored the foul trouble and soreness seeping into his knee to bring the Heat "back from the dead to win," as coach Pat Riley put it.
Wade’s 42 points were the most since Allen Iverson scored 48 and O’Neal 44 in Game 1 of the 2001 Finals. The performance was aided by Dallas’ inexplicable collapse down the stretch.Perhaps too giddy at the prospect of taking a 3-0 lead in the series, the Mavericks, so dominant in Games 1 and 2, went 2 of 7 from the field, committed five turnovers and were outscored 22-7 over the final 6:15.
The Mavericks aren’t panicking. They recognize an opportunity has slipped away and they’re determined not to let the next one sneak by.
"We didn’t really come ready to play from the start," said Dirk Nowitzki, who could have tied it at 97-all but missed the second of two free throws with 3.4 seconds left. "We fell behind. We were backpedaling pretty much the whole first half, and we have to make sure we correct that."
Stopping Wade will be a high priority, too.
In three seasons as a pro, he has established himself as more than an All-Star.
Having coached Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant and O’Neal, Riley can appreciate greatness and the burden attached to it.
From Riley’s perspective, Wade’s fourth-quarter heroics were almost expected. "I think he’s probably going to surpass this in his career," Riley said. "People will be talking about a lot more games that he will play that will be memorable."
