If you ever have followed pro sports for even a moment, you have no doubt heard the old pitch, “If the playoffs started today …” Well, they don’t. And few in the NBA are more aware of that than the two-time world champion Heat.
Though January winning streaks are nice, holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy aloft in June is sort of nicer. The Heat talk about improving day-by-day and game-by-game, but the big prize is they seeks. To that end, they want Dwyane Wade whole, ready for the playoffs. So they will sit him some games now for the big picture, using a maintenance plan to avoid overtaxing his balky knees.
So Wade was held out of Friday’s 104-95 double-overtime loss to the Nets at Barclays Center, the second game in two nights for the Heat. Wade had gone 39 minutes against the Knicks Thursday and playing him heavy minutes in back-to-backs rates somewhere just below Bird Flu and cockroaches on the Heat’s “My Favorite Things” list.
“I’m going to continue to be smart about this situation and understand the bigger picture,” Wade said. “That’s my decision to make and the training staff and we’ll continue to make it, and I’ll be OK with whatever decision they make.
“I go on my pain level. I played almost 40 minutes [Thursday],” Wade said. “My back-to-back last week wasn’t the same amount of minutes, same grind, so it’s a progression. [Friday] I decided not to with the soreness. We have another [back-to-back] next week and I’ll see how it feels.”
Wade has missed nine games this season and is averaging 33.6 minutes, the second lowest total of his career. Remember, it’s not about being Team of the Month in January.
Miami coach Eric Spoelstra repeatedly stresses there is no hard and firm schedule for games in place for Wade — “it’s all about the moment,” he said.
“Dwyane is a different situation,” said Spoelstra, who cited “a lot of games and a lot of minutes” against the Knicks are the reason to sit Wade against the Nets. “It’s big picture that he gets stronger and healthier as the season goes on. … It’s a day-by-day process where we evaluate him. If he passes the process of his tests each day like last week, he can go like last week. If he doesn’t, then he won’t.”
So the Heat have grown accustomed to not always seeing Wade’s face. LeBron James said he merely adjusts when he gets the word.
“It’s always a game-time decision,” James said. “I go into that game or that day thinking he is going to be out there and when I get the news he’s not playing, I have to understand my responsibility changes. So I have to carry a little bit more of the scoring load or a little bit more of the responsibility as far as handling the ball, because one of our best ball handlers is out.”