Other than Twitpics of Dorell Wright's dong, it's the worst thing a Miami Heat fan can ever see: Dwayne Wade, grimacing in pain with team doctors checking his wrist. It happened last night after the first half of Miami's 111-98 win over the New York Knicks. But with playoff seedings still up in the air and a chance to grab the five spot in the East, D-Wade refused to get an xray. Instead, he overcame the pain, coming out for the second half to a 32-point performance, going 12-for-26 from the field, and hitting 8-of-9 free throws.
The Knicks's David Lee gave the Heat some trouble, putting down 26 points of his own, and keeping New York close throughout. But D-Wade was able to convert 3-point plays down the stretch and took his game to the next level every time the Knicks made any kind of threat. He also got a little help from his friends with Udonis Haslem scoring 14 and Michael Beasley 16.
It also helped that Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni went with Danilo
Gallinari as his main defender against Wade. That is evidently not the
best stronghold against a guy who's averaged 28.8 points in the last 16
games. Maybe D'Antoni thought Gallinari could distract Wade with his
accent. Either way, with only one hand, Wade managed to again dominate
the Knicks, sweeping the season series. He also might have given New
York fans attending the game at the Garden false hope that he'll be
doing his thing in a Knicks uniform next season.
Best part of it all - aside from learning Wade's wrist injury is only a
bruise - is that the Heat are now tied with the Milwaukee Bucks for
fifth in the East with two games left to play. While the Bucks hold the
season tiebreaker against Miami (3-1), the Heat get to play the lowly
Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Nets in their final two. Meanwhile
the Bucks will tangle with playoff contenders Atlanta and Boston.
