The goggles Dwyane Wade had worn in practice the last four days to ease his migraines had to go, the NBA said yesterday, replaced by a model that would enable the Knicks to see the whites of his deadeye.
“Tinted too much,” explained Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “Unfair advantage on the opponent not being able to see your eyes.”
No truth to the rumor, then, that with Chris Bosh (high ankle sprain) not dressed and LeBron James also practicing in goggles in sensitivity to Wade’s light sensitivity, the Heat were trying to slip into New York incognito.
PHOTOS: KNICKS BEAT MIAMI HEAT
Completely unintentional in fact, was James’ 7-for-24 disguise as just another player in the Knicks’ 93-88 victory, the fifth loss in six games for Miami. But had King James taken the court in a Rip Hamilton mask, an Artis Gilmore-style Fu Manchu and an old set of Bosh dreadlocks, a Garden booing his every touch still probably would have figured out who this new guy was playing the four for Miami:
Yes, that dirty, rotten, coward with the .475 career shooting percentage who shot us in the back last July.
Never mind that Bosh and Wade snubbed the Knicks, too. James owed us, because after all, we are New York and had everything to offer, including a franchise that has won all of two championships in 65 seasons.
What else would any reasonable man want? Besides, maybe, the opportunity to ride shotgun with Wade, who last night almost passed along his headache to Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni by making 13 consecutive field goals; Bosh, a power forward averaging 18 points and eight rebounds; and practically 365 days a year of sunshine.
Amar’e Stoudemire embraced an operation bootstrap, but James had been there, done that.
Meanwhile, back in Cleveland, the 8-37 Cavaliers are testimony to bitter owner Dan Gilbert’s failure to put a supporting cast around James, who earned every penny paid him and little of the scorn he has endured.
A happy accident brought a monster talent to a hometown team that had the worst record the year of his draft eligibility. It did not obligate James for life.
It got lonely trying to win a title by his lonesome. And while a world curiously turned off by a superstar willing to take less money and subjugate his game to win a championship can’t wait for the Heat to fail, Miami won’t ultimately, not with the Celtics’ and the Lakers’ windows closing.
“It seems we’ve been together for a long time but we really haven’t,” said James. “Boston has played over [300] games together, same as the Lakers. It’s more a quick twitch for us.”
Actually, last night it looked like James’ fibers were twitching slowly.
“[Bosh’s absence] is an opportunity to show how gifted and how high an IQ player [James] is,” said Spoelstra.
But his emergency power forward proved better at turning his back on Cleveland than on the basket.
“How do I like the four?” James asked. “I like the floor.”
That’s a better line than his line in the boxscore, thanks to his prolonged holding of the ball.
“I missed 10-12 layups and more difficult ones down the stretch I made, that’s when you know it’s one of those games,” James said.
With no Bosh and no inside-out game, the Heat were knocked sideways in the fourth quarter, looking more like the collection of individuals that started the season than the one that was dominating until injuries hit.
No wonder Wade estimates his team as playing to 65 percent of its promise.