Stupid Dwyane Wade. He’s messing everything up. We had a perfectly neat and nestled two-man MVP race, and then here comes Wade this week, scoring 48 points with a game-winner at Chicago, 32 in a win against the Celtics, then 50 on Saturday against the Jazz — surely giving Charles Barkley something to text about (you know, once he got his cellphone back from the warden).
“I think he’s capable of getting the MVP,” said Wade’s buddy Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets small forward. “It might go based on records and the success of teams. But you can’t sleep on what Dwyane Wade has done.”
What Wade has done is stay healthy. The past two seasons, Wade wasn’t Wade. But after an admirable rehab — and a stint with Team USA that earned him rave reviews and a new necklace — Wade leads the NBA in points per game (30.0), while eighth in assists (7.7, and not bad considering he isn’t a classic point guard) and second in steals (2.25). His shooting percentage (49.5) is good for 26th, which isn’t bad, but then consider that the percentage is good for sixth among nonpost players.
The Miami all-star recently won the Eastern Conference’s player of the month award for February, the same award he won for December.
He even accidentally started a trend in South Beach with the Band-Aid under his left eye that covered his stitches (Dwyane Wade’s Band-Aids are becoming as cool as Dwayne Wayne’s flip sunglasses on “A Different World”).
“His energy in a game is a lot of fun to watch,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “He has a defensive dimension, he blocks a lot of shots for a guard, and offensively, watching him and LeBron (James) from the top of the key to the free-throw line, it’s not a basketball skill, it’s an athletic skill, watching their power and speed, and then throw-handling a basketball in there, making a decision in a half-second about what to do when you get to the free-throw line is marvelous.”
OK, OK, I can already hear the furious e-mail typing from furious folks in L.A. and Cleveland that reigning MVP Kobe Bryant is the top player on the league’s top team, and that LeBron is becoming a verb (“They were LeBronned”). But Wade should at least be in the conversation.
It is duly noted that no MVP since Moses Malone in 1982 has been on a team with fewer than 50 wins, and while the Lakers and Cavaliers are atop their conferences, Wade’s Heat are 36-29, unlikely to hit the big 5-0. But we do have this convenient statistic — Wade missed 31 games last season, and his team finished 15-67. Now they’re not just a playoff team, but could be a dangerous one, Karl suggested.
Once the ballots come, it will be difficult for writers (such as this reporter) to choose Wade over both Kobe and LeBron.
But if Wade keeps putting up weeks like this, the argument against him could weaken.
T-wreck?
The Houston Rockets are now 11-3 since Tracy McGrady called it a season and opted for knee surgery. But for all this unlikely success, coach Rick Adelman said while in Denver this week, “What do we do in the fourth quarter without Tracy? We’re still trying to figure that out. The good teams will lock you in and they’re going to take things away — they’ll take Yao away. And we better have an answer.” Indeed, the Nuggets lost by two points to Houston, but outscored the Rockets 33-22 in the fourth quarter, offensively taking it to Yao Ming and getting the star center to foul out. And with Yao out, the Rockets’ offense sputtered.
Praise for a point.
Sports Illustrated released a poll last week that asked 190 NBA players: “Which point guard would you pay to see?” The Hornets’ Chris Paul earned 59 percent and the Suns’ Steve Nash nabbed 14 percent, but our guy Chauncey Billups came in third, with 5 percent. Paul leads the NBA with six triple-doubles this season.
14ers fever.
Down the road in Broomfield, the Colorado 14ers are currently the hottest team in the NBA’s D-League (they host the Los Angeles D-Fenders today at 7 p.m.)
Entering this weekend, Nuggets rookie Sonny Weems had played three games, all wins, and averages 27.6 points per game. On Thursday, Anthony attended the 14ers game with J.R. Smith, who has been to three 14ers games this season (as has Renaldo Balkman).
Spotlight on …
Devin Harris most improved
Nene came back from cancer and Chris Andersen came back from a two-year suspension, and while this deserves much adulation, it’s unlikely either player will win the NBA’s most improved award. It’s likely the writers will write in Harris’ name, because the guy went from good to great, conveniently, in one season.
He entered the weekend averaging 22.7 points and seven assists for New Jersey — he had never averaged more than 15 and six. Rejuvenated in Lawrence Frank’s system, the former Maverick made the all-star team this season and put up two monster games this past week. He totaled 35 points and 10 assists against New York, followed by a near triple-double against Golden State, featuring 31 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists, as well as three steals (he is eighth in the NBA with 1.69 steals per game).
Harris’ dream season will always be remembered for one play, when he attempted a game-winning heave that was blocked, but Harris quickly caught the blocked shot in stride and launched another attempt from half court, which splashed in, for a YouTube link for the ages.
Harris and the Nets will take on the Nuggets on Monday at the Pepsi Center. He scored 28 points — and was 14-for-17 from the free-throw line — in the Nets’ 114-70 blowout against Denver on Feb. 7.
