The Miami Heat needed Dwyane Wade for a pivotal game four versus the Toronto Raptors last night, and Dwyane Wade showed up in a BIG way.
Wade scored 30 points in 39 minutes on 13-24 shooting to lead the Heat to a 94-87 overtime win over the Raptors to lead all players in scoring. With this 30-point performance, Wade passed LeBron James for the most 30-point playoff games in Heat franchise history. Wade also surpassed Magic Johnson for 13th on the NBA’s all-time postseason scoring list.
“It looked dark for a minute,” Wade said, “but there was no quit in us.”
The 34-year-old Wade didn’t score in the overtime period until he stole the ball from Raptors forward Terrence Ross to seal the Raptors fate in game four. Wade admitted he was low on fatigue following the game:
“I was tired,” Wade said. “I was using myself as a decoy. All eyes were on me, and I wasn’t going to force anything.”
‘D-Wade’ is now averaging 27.3 points per game this series versus Toronto after back-to-back 30-point games in games three and four. Game 5 will be on Wednesday in Toronto when Wade will try to give Miami a 3-2 series lead and swing the series back to Miami in the Heat’s favor.
“I’m as confident as I’ve been all season right now,” Wade said.
Goran Dragic and Joe Johnson combined to match Wade’s 30-point total with both of them scoring 15 points respectively. Cory Joseph and Terrence Ross lead the Raptors in scoring with 14 points. Joseph missed the potential game-winning shot when guarded by Justise Winslow to end the 4th quarter.
Joseph was in the game following Kyle Lowry fouled out of the game in 32 minutes of action after Winslow baited him into an offensive foul.
“Two tough-minded teams,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “They came out and forced their will on us at the end of the game.”
Lowry blamed himself for the Raptors losing the game after shooting 2-11 from the field and 0-6 from three-point territory.
“Personally, I’m pissed,” Lowry told reporters following game four. “We wanted to come in here and get two and we had an opportunity. But you know, we’re going to look at the positives. It’s a best of three and we got two at home.”
“I can’t be in foul trouble,” Lowry said. “I let my team down tonight. I take the loss for us on this one cause me not being on the floor hurt our team.”
The Heat out scored Toronto 15-6 after Lowry fouled out of the game.
“Lucky for us, Kyle Lowry wasn’t on the floor in the end,” Dwyane Wade said.
Whoever wins this series will square off with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, and it looks like the Golden State Warriors will soon be waiting for either the Spurs or the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.
