LOS ANGELES, 27 May 2005 — Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade was determined to follow up one of his worst playoff games with one of his best.
Wade exploded for half his 40 points in the final quarter as the Heat beat the Detroit Pistons, 92-86 on Wednesday night to level their Eastern Conference playoff series at one game apiece.
Wade was held to just 16 points, missing 18-of-25 shots in Miami’s 90-81 Game One loss on Monday night. But the second-year all-star listened to his coaches, reviewed the film and made adjustments, to avoid having the top-seeded Heat go down 0-2 in the best-of-seven match-up against the defending NBA champions.
“I know I’m human, I know I’m going to have some bad games but it’s all how you come back the next game,” said Wade, who fell two points shy of his playoff career best after connecting on 15-of-28 field goals, to go along with eight rebounds and six assists. “I helped my team get a win tonight and that’s all you can ask for.2
Heat coach Stan Van Gundy was not surprised to see Wade bounce back.
“You can’t be great, great, great every night,” he said. “For two years, Dwyane has been a guy, that when you find an answer for him, he’ll go back, take a look and make some adjustments. This isn’t a guy who writes things off or makes excuses. He will give people their due in his mind and their respect and try to make adjustments.”
“This is a smart, humble guy, who approaches his profession the right way. That’s what makes him so good. Dwayne was fabulous tonight.”
Shaquille O’Neal had 17 points and 10 rebounds while Damon Jones added 14 points for Miami, which improved at home to 9-1 in the post-season.
“All we did was get ourselves back in the series,” Van Gundy offered. “They came to Miami just wanting to take home the home-court advantage and they got it. So, we’ve got our work cut out for us in Detroit against the defending champions. It’s going to be more difficult than it was tonight and we fully understand that.” The series shifts to The Palace at Auburn Hills for Games Three and Four on Sunday and Tuesday. Richard Hamilton scored 21 points, Tayshaun Prince had 17 and Rasheed Wallace finished with 15 for Detroit, which erased a 14-point deficit before Wade took charge.
“I thought we had to play our best to win this game but we came up a little short and they had a lot to do with it,” Pistons coach Larry Brown said. “Wade had a phenomenal game. He’s as good as it gets in our league. He was phenomenal in every way.” Wade said he received some advice from his teammates, especially O’Neal, who phoned him at the hour of 3:45 a.m..
“I thought he was crazy,” Wade said. “But he just wanted to tell me to relax - that it was going to be a dogfight tonight. He said I’m the leader of the team, so go out and lead. That’s what I tried to do.”
“Dwayne was taking a lot of criticism, so I called him and he was up,” O’Neal said. “I told him don’t worry — it happens to the best of them. I told him he was trying too hard and to let the game come to him. Keep everybody involved and the fourth quarter is yours.”
Wade answered the call with 14 of Miami’s first 16 points in the final quarter, including a sparkling two-handed ally-oop dunk from a pass by Jones, to put the Heat ahead, 78-76 with 5:12 to go. After Hamilton’s jumper knotted the game, O’Neal converted a three-point play with 3:59 remaining to put the Heat ahead for good, 81-78. Miami’s Alonzo Mourning blocked a shot by Ben Wallace, and Wade sprinted down-court for a breakaway layup.
