Miami
Known more for defying gravity than heavy lifting, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade put 325 pounds of Shaq on his back, and lifted a desperate team and a disheartened city.
Surprise. The NBA Finals are not over. Why? After a 98-96 victory against Dallas on Tuesday night, Wade is just getting started.
He scored 42 points, much to the relief and delight of a star-
studded audience that included singer Jimmy Buffett, golfer Jack Nicklaus and local legend Dan Marino.
Did anyone see LeBron James in the building? No?
Maybe Wade is the man who would be the young king of this league.
The Heat was down and left for gone midway through the fourth quarter. That is when Wade got the look in his eye, a look we have seen in years past from Magic Johnson, from Larry Bird, from Michael Jordan.
What got into Wade? “Looking up at the score, thinking, ‘Man, I ain’t going out like this,”‘ he explained.
After center Shaquille O’Neal and coach Pat Riley looked old and tired when the Heat dropped two straight games to open the championship series, everybody in town jumped down Shaq’s throat for not being Superman.
“Let’s be realistic about the what the world is about, OK, what the media is about,” Riley said. “Guys are looking to blame, maybe even before blame should be passed out.”
The blame and anger were more badly misdirected than any errant free throw by O’Neal.
This is not Shaq’s team. At age 34, creeping middle age has found him. Forget his trouble at the foul line. Sometimes, O’Neal appears to have difficulty bending over to pick up a loose basketball from the floor.
Miami wins and loses on the talent of Wade.
In Dallas, the Heat could not compete because although Wade averaged more than 25 points in the two road losses, too often he got cut off in traffic during drives to the hoop and his jumper was never reliable.
With 6 minutes, 34 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and Dallas ahead by 13 points, the home crowd began booing in Miami and what had been a playoff season of high drama was on the verge of ending with the dud of a sweep in the Finals.
“It didn’t look good,” Riley said. “It didn’t feel good. We were stuck in mud.”
The Mavericks are faster on the break, more accurate with their shots and deeper off the bench than the Heat.
There is undeniable greatness on Miami’s team, but much of it seems worn.
When Riley talks about how he found the winner within with the Showtime Lakers, his voice sounds wrinkled with nostalgia.
When O’Neal hits crucial free throws at crunch time, as he did in Game 3, the big guy gives praise to the basketball gods for showing mercy on him.
When the Heat wants a laugh from the arena crowd, it sends out a troupe of senior citizen dancers during a timeout called the Golden Oldies, who gyrate their hips very slowly.
Wade is the energy, the young blood, the indescribable wow that makes Miami vital.
“Incredible, just the heart that he has,” Riley said.
Down 2-1 in this best-of-seven series, the lone way Miami can win the championship is if D-Wade is the most valuable player.
Wade “basically took over the game the last five, six minutes. That’s what a player of his caliber does,” O’Neal said.
“He’s the type of player that you just let him go and let him do his thing.”
Wade scored 15 in the final period of Game 3. He did with the burden of five fouls. He did it in pain. His knee hurt. Yours would, too, if O’Neal fell on it.
“That’s a lot of weight,” Wade said. “With Shaq’s big head, I think his head fell on me.”
Then, the young guard of the Miami Heat smiled.
Shaq ain’t heavy. He is D-Wade’s brother.
How important is Wade to what happens next in the NBA Finals? A city’s heart is in his hands.
Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-820-5438 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.
