Dwyane Wade Saved the Miami Heat's Season Last Night

After getting their asses handed to them by the 76ers in Saturday's 130-103 Game 1 loss, the Heat entered Monday's Game 2 needing a hero. They needed someone to step up and meet each Sixers basket with a basket of his own. They needed a familiar face to turn back the clock and make big-time plays in a big-time game. They needed leadership and strength.

By Ryan Yousefi

April 17, 2018

Photo by Keith Allison / Flickr

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After getting their asses handed to them by the 76ers in Saturday's 130-103 Game 1 loss, the Heat entered Monday's Game 2 needing a hero. They needed someone to step up and meet each Sixers basket with a basket of his own. They needed a familiar face to turn back the clock and make big-time plays in a big-time game. They needed leadership and strength.

They needed a classic Dwyane Wade night of jaw-dropping basketball, dammit. And right on cue, Wade and his best basketball showed up to punch the Sixers right in their shit. Of course it was Dwyane Wade who stepped up. It's Dwyane Wade!

Wade brought that good stuff right from the get-go last night, ending the first half with 21 points. By the final buzzer, Wade had a purely sexual stat line that made his knees, and yours, feel like it was 2006 again: 28 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two huge brass balls.

It wasn't just Wade's points that meant the most, though; it was how each Wade basket slowed a Sixers run. It was how he broke the Sixers' backs when the Heat needed it most. Late in the game, with the Sixers mounting a scary-ass comeback that had all of Heat Twitter running to the medicine cabinet for anxiety relief, Wade put the final nail in the coffin and sent the Heat back to Miami with home-court advantage.

D-Wade Dagger in Ben Simmons face. pic.twitter.com/LQlJTF7BvE
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) April 17, 2018

Of course, anytime Wade comes to play it makes Twitter happy as all hell. There is just something about watching him take those young whippersnappers to school in the year 2018. People love seeing Wade go off, so they tweeted about it.

Playoff Dwyane.... pic.twitter.com/lPFPIwikR8
— x - Guillermo XI (@MrBill11) April 17, 2018

Dwyane Wade just lead the Heat to a playoff victory... pic.twitter.com/aboWWTpmPr
— /r/NBA (@NBA_Reddit) April 17, 2018

Bow to your master. Dwyane Wade just saved the Heat’s season. pic.twitter.com/iIpMakn9dM
— Will Manso (@WillManso) April 17, 2018

Wade to the Sixers: pic.twitter.com/x1GJY7kIWu
— David Dwork (@DavidDwork) April 17, 2018

Wade still got it #wadecounty pic.twitter.com/4vY35kW4JG
— kemal gema ramadhan (@gema_kemal) April 17, 2018

Bitches @sixers pic.twitter.com/O5yPDxSGBd
— Dan Rather Not (@DanGnajerle) April 17, 2018

Miami Heat, bitches! pic.twitter.com/vLWTANUNAg
— Andrew Abramson (@AbramsonFL) April 17, 2018

pic.twitter.com/XhgzRWJ0mw
— STAY WHITE LIFER (@benjam_n01) April 17, 2018

pic.twitter.com/lvBnefdkfu
— Brendan Tobin (@Brendan_Tobin) April 17, 2018

What a difference 48 hours makes. The Heat now heads back to Miami with home-court advantage and a chance to take control of this series Thursday night. The tables are sure to turn in South Florida, where the team plays much better than its does on the road, and the 76ers are less of a buzz saw on offense.

Wade will get two days off to rest his beautiful 36-year-old body to do it all over again. From the looks of a tweet Gabrielle Union sent out after his big game, Wade might get some help with that. It's good to be the king.

As soon as Wade sees the notification pic.twitter.com/UH05tOUjKT
— Agent of NBA Chaos (@World_Wide_Wob) April 17, 2018

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Ryan Yousefi, a sports journalist and MBA holder in business healthcare management, has been a dedicated weekly contributor to the Miami New Times since 2013. Beyond his sports journalism career, he's held leadership roles in web3 gaming companies. He enjoys southeast Asia travel, pho, and whiskey, but most of all, being Lincoln's dad.

Contact: Ryan Yousefi

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