Miami – Dwyane Wade might be out, but the Miami Heat is almost in – the NBA Finals.
Miami defeated the Detroit Pistons 88-76 on Thursday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals at American Airlines Arena, taking a 3-2 series lead. But the Heat did so without the services of its star guard for the final 10 minutes.
Wade suffered a strained rib muscle in the third quarter. He briefly attempted to play in the fourth, but could not, and his availability for Saturday’s Game 6 in Michigan remains to be seen.
“I feel our (medical) staff will do everything in their power to get me prepared for the game (Saturday),” Wade said after scoring 15 points. “If I feel I can go out and help my team, I will play. If I feel that I can go out and help my team, I will play. If I feel that I’m going to go out there and hurt my team, then I won’t.
“I’ve got all of the confidence in the world, with me being young. Hopefully, I can bounce back real quick.”
Wade’s teammates picked up the slack. Shaquille O’Neal scored 20 points, and Damon Jones added 15, Udonis Haslem 14 and Rasual Butler 12.
Defending champion Detroit has performed well when faced with adversity. But winning two consecutive games against the Heat to get back to the Finals would be quite an accomplishment.
Even so, Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace feels up to the challenge.
“We’re going to win Game 6,” said Wallace, who had twice as many turnovers (four) as points.
“They are going to send some good (referees) out there, and there’s going to be a Game 7. There’s no other series. If y’all can’t see that, you’re all crazy.”
The Pistons stayed with the Heat for a quarter, after which Miami led 28-26. But once the last part of the second quarter arrived, the momentum shifted toward the host team for good.
The Pistons trailed just 42-39 with 2:33 left before halftime. But the Heat finished the half with an 11-0 run for a 53-39 lead.
“We kind of lost our cool in (the second quarter),” said Detroit coach Larry Brown, who added he didn’t think his team matched Miami’s energy. “It was (37-33). Next time I look up, we’re down 14.”
The Heat led 67-47 with 5:08 left in the third quarter when Wade went to the locker room for treatment. With Wade out, Detroit trimmed its deficit to 73-60 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Wade returned at that point, but after a couple of minutes returned to the bench for good, and Detroit got no closer than 12.
“I had confidence that my team could get the victory, and they did,” Wade said.
Footnotes
Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert said there were some “preliminary, cursory discussions” with Brown about the opening for team president. “After the season, he told us he’s getting his health checked out,” Gilbert said. “And when he gets his health checked out, if he can coach, he can coach.”
Brown responded: “If I can’t coach, I don’t know what I would be allowed to do, so I don’t want to even speculate on that.
“They have already talked to me about it, and I told them the same thing, and there’s no need to go further.”
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
