The Heat needed two to tie, three to win in the final seconds against the Knicks yesterday. And the first choice to deliver was not LeBron James, but Dwyane Wade — followed by Chris Bosh. So the guy who is first in your hearts, first in Eastern Conference scoring was third on the final possession option list to avoid a trip back to Miami for Game 5.
And there will be a Game 5.
“For me, personally, I would have loved to have had the ball. But as a team we all win games together and we lose games together so that’s all that matters,” said James (27 points), who tied the game with a 3-pointer with 1:16 left, got the Heat within one at 14.8 seconds with a driving three-point play, then watched the final play transpire.
The Heat, having squandered an 11-point third-quarter lead, now fought to at least tie. Out of a timeout with 13.2 seconds left and the Knicks up by two, Mario Chalmers inbounded to Wade, who expected the Knicks’ Amar’e Stoudemire to switch on the pick and roll. And that’s what happened, as Landry Fields went on Bosh.
“I knew for the most part that [Carmelo Anthony] was going to try to deny me so we came out of the timeout going pick-and-roll with D-Wade and CB knowing they were going to make a switch,” said James, who was set to come out with another screen if the Heat didn’t get the switch they wanted. “I feel like he got in the lane and didn’t have a good look initially.”
When Wade tried driving, Fields stepped up. Wade momentarily lost his dribble in the face of two defenders. That was big.
“I kind of lost [the ball] and when I lost it, it kind of forced [me] the other way,” said Wade, who veered off to the right and ended up launching a 3-point try from 24 feet that found only iron, and bounded high, seconds before streamers started covering the Garden for the 89-87 Knicks victory that avoided a sweep and brought the series to 3-1, Miami.
Hey, you don’t end an NBA-record 13-game playoff losing streak every day. Or year.
“It looked like Dwyane had an opportunity to get into the paint and I think he lost his handle for a count and it became a broken play at that point,” said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. “[James] was a possible trigger out of that, but we have to break free on that initial [screen], but we weren’t able to get a free lane to the paint.”
Or, in reality, a good shot, although Wade saw it a touch differently.
“I actually had a good shot,” said Wade (22 points). “I thought it was going in, just a little bit short. … We knew they were going to switch. I lost the ball and I didn’t get the open shot I wanted.”
When Wade did turn and launch — “for a 3 that he has made before but just didn’t go in,” James said — Fields was right there challenging.
“I just wanted to contest it as best I could without fouling,” Fields said.