Miami Heat: Dwyane Wade looks like he never left

Being in the audience as Dwyane Wade wound back the clock for the Miami Heat was certainly an experience to savor.

It was a night where the metrics and analytics simply took a back seat to a special relationship and trust .

Entering the game with 5:55 remaining in the final period, Dwyane Wade had registered 12 points in 19 minutes of action while recording the rather unflattering plus/minus of -22 while on the floor.

So when Erik Spoelstra called upon Wade with the Miami Heat trailing 82-82 to the Philadelphia 76ers, this could’ve been looked upon as somewhat of a gamble — not only because of Wade’s negative balance on the box score, but also because of the limited role he’d played for the majority of the season prior to his return to the Heat.

But as Miami media personality Dan Le Batard noted on his ESPN Radio program, The Dan Le Batard Show, this decision was a no-brainer if you understand the Wade-Spoelstra relationship:

"“One of the great, cool things that I think is in place with this reunion is – Good God, is Spoelstra Wade’s guy. Like Spoelstra is saying to anyone who will listen, ‘Damn straight, I’ve been here with Wade, he took me from video coordinator to the top of the sport, he’s taken all my last shots for as long as he wants to take them. Because I die with that guy. And I don’t care if they’re 18-footers, and I don’t care if he’s hitting them at 33 percent. I ride and die with that guy.’“The fact that they’ve been able to repair that relationship, and that Spoelstra is still there with Wade at this age, is very cool.”"

With this in mind, it’s slightly easier to understand what transpired on this momentous night.

Wade proceeded to score 15 points down the final stretch of the game, and for at least a short moment, reminded the Heat faithful in attendance just what he brought to South Florida throughout his action-packed career.

This certainly didn’t look like a random, lucky night for a past-his-prime former All-Star. Wade’s package of highlights in the final six minutes included finish a reverse layup on the break in traffic, pull-up jumpers and of course Wade’s vintage pump-fake, which resulted in tying the game at 100 after Wade hit all three attempts from the charity stripe.

To add to the drama of the night was Wade making the unconventional decision to foul Sixers rookie Ben Simmons with the game tied and 23.8 seconds remaining. Although a poor free throw shooter, fouling Simmons there is certainly not the normal protocol in such a situation.

Fortuitously for Wade and the Heat, Simmons made just one of his two attempts, thus paving the way for a climactic ending to the game, which in Miami, is D-Wade time.

Such an amazing finish to the game meant multiple things to the 36-year-old Wade. Not only did he propel the Heat to a vital win in their quest to clinch a playoff spot, but he was always playing with a heavy heart in honor of one of the 17 victims in the tragic Parkland school shooting.

Joaquin Oliver, who idolized Wade, was buried in Wade’s jersey last week. Naturally, this made an enormous impact on Wade, who wore shoes with Oliver’s name on them for the game. He also expressed the following in the lead-up to the game:

Following his momentous performance, Wade then took to Instagram to express his thoughts:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfujBoKg9Cr/?taken-by=dwyanewade

For the final word on Wade’s epic night, here’s what Spoelstra expressed following the game:

"“I’ll tell you what, he’s got guts….there’s something about Dwyane Wade when you put that Miami Heat jersey on in front of these fans. He becomes somebody very special.”"

As one of those in attendance, the outpouring of emotion from the fans Spoelstra was referring to was plain to see.

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Furthermore, who’s to say this is the last magical moment of Wade’s career in the Triple A?