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 Red Zone Diaries - HALF-WAY TO THE THRONE
With eight playoff wins the HEAT has already equaled their most in any one post-season, matching their total in the 1997 playoffs, the only other time Miami advanced to the conference finals. Their four road wins in these playoffs is already a HEAT record, having never exceeded two road victories in any one playoff run. Almost everyone expected the HEAT to reach the conference finals but did anyone think they would sweep their way in, especially with Shaquille O’Neal hurting through the first two rounds and out of the last two games. As impressive as the first-two rounds were, this team realizes they are just beginning the heavy lifting of the 2005 playoffs. They know they are only half-way home and half-way to the throne. Including the playoffs, Miami’s record stands at 67-23 and now the HEAT find themselves just eight wins shy of their first ever NBA Championship. Eight wins away. They are the toughest eight wins in the NBA to achieve but the HEAT still believe. And they’re not the only ones.
While taking their 2-0 series lead to Washington the HEAT had to deal with its first dose of playoff adversity. When Shaquille O’Neal missed his first ever playoff game (after 164 consecutive starts), with his bruised right thigh, last Thursday, the momentum of that series could have shifted. A Wizards win in Game 3 might have been a series-changer but Dwyane Wade and the rest of the HEAT would not let it happen. Before the game Stan Van Gundy stood before the media with resolve and realism, without Shaq in his lineup. “It is never a good thing,” he said, “when one of your best players is out.” The HEAT won Game 3, without their big fella, 102-95. All five starters scored in double figures. Alonzo Mourning (14 pts-13 rebs-4 blks) and Udonis Haslem (12 pts-12 rebs) both had double-doubles. Eddie Jones and Damon Jones both scored 16 points and Dwyane Wade was, once again, the best player on the floor.
Mourning’s 21 point- 9 rebound game, in only 16 minutes of Game 2 in the Nets series might have been his best game but his effort in Game 3 at Washington last Thursday was his most important. With the Diesel hurting and sitting, Zo stepped up in a clutch and courageous 35 minute effort. “He was tremendous,” said Van Gundy. “You have to give our front office a lot of credit. If we didn’t make that move, I don’t know where we would be.” Mourning rejoined Miami on March 1st and played in 19 regular season games for the HEAT. It was over his last eight games, when Shaq missed time with a stomach virus followed by his now famous, April 17th, collision with Jermaine O’Neal’s knee, where Zo really began to look playoff-ready and was he ever, when it was needed most. After the Game 3 win in Washington, Alonzo was beaming with team pride. “We are a resilient bunch of guys,” he said. “We fight back. We’re not a one-man or two-man team. This is a team. Nobody in this world has ever accomplished anything without a challenge first. We faced a challenge tonight.” Nobody responds to a challenge, on the court, better than Wade. After struggling in the first half of Game 3 with 12 points and six turnovers, as usual, he found his way. He finished with 31 points, nine rebounds, six assists and just two, second half turnovers. And he emptied his tank doing it.
“Just like Game 4 in the New Jersey series, we are going to come out with a lot of energy,” Wade told me at Friday’s, HEAT media session. “We’re not going to worry about anything but that game. Try to play our best in that game. Of course we would love to get some rest. With Shaq being hurt it would be good to get this win and get some rest for some guys, myself included. It would be good to come out and finish this series on a high note. Hopefully we can come out and do that.” Did they ever and Wade was the word. With O’Neal out, no one assumed a greater burden than Wade. No one could. He had the ball in his hands even more, the Heat’s fate as well. He took on more responsibility for creating shots for his teammates and for his defense. He was also able to score on the Wizards, almost at will. His Game 4 performance Saturday is what playoff legends are made of. He scored 42 points in 42 minutes. It was his career-high and a HEAT career playoff best. So was his 22-point third quarter. It was perfection in a period. He played all 12 minutes, made all seven of his field goals and all eight of his free throws. “I was in The Matrix,” he would say later. “Everything was going in.” “An incredible quarter by and incredible player,” is what Van Gundy said. Wade averaged 31 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and shot 54 percent in the series against Washington, with much of it against Larry Hughes, a first-team, All-NBA defender. In the two games without Shaq he delivered 36.5 points a game on 55 percent and averaged 43 minutes. He showed more than flashes, of a champion’s heart and game. “It’s been just amazing to me,” said teammate Keyon Dooling of Wade’s performances. “I was telling my brothers just the other night, that I am playing with somebody that they are going to be remembering 40-years down the line. They’re going to be remembering his playoff performances for the ages. It’s been fun. It’s been great. He makes it so much easier because not only is he a great player on the court but off the court he is just a great man. “You have to take your hat off to him, the way he carries himself.” Wade has been close to un-guardable, averaging 28.6 points on 52 percent shooting with 8.4 assists and 6.6 rebounds over these first eight playoff games and wins. He is the leading scorer, still active in the playoffs, number two in assists and he tops the charts in thrills per minute. Nobody in these playoffs has done more to carry their team than him.
“Dwyane Wade is the consummate team player,” the Diesel said. “Yesterday I told him he was the best player on the court and just go out and play his game, get everybody involved and just dominate. And he did all of that.” America is learning what South Florida has known for awhile now, when it comes to the amazing feats and flights of Wade. On the playoff stage, under the glare of the national spotlight, he rises and shines. You are making a nation wide name for yourself, the media tells him. Of this, Wade shows his true, team colors. “I am not thinking that way,” he responds. “The playoffs, to me, are a time where you just step up for your team and that’s what I try to do. I’m not worried if I’m making a name for myself or not. I’m just worried about helping my team succeed.” Although it hurt Shaq deeply to miss two straight playoff games, he liked what he saw in Games 3 and 4 at the MCI Center last Thursday and Saturday. “It’s a fabulous team,” O’Neal said. “We move the ball. Nobody on this team is selfish. Nobody on this team cares about who’s doing what. It’s a great team to be on.” Even when they are in the midst of missing 16 straight shots in the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s series clincher, which made the final act of their second series sweep, a cliff-hanger. Miami saw their 13-point lead in the final quarter vanish. After Gilbert Arenas, the Wizard’s enigmatic point-guard fouled out with six minutes left, the game appeared to be over, with Miami up 11. But it wasn’t. Washington responded with a 12-0 run that gave them a sudden and shocking 95-94 lead with 1:15 to play. A great HEAT victory was about to become a bad-dream defeat. This HEAT team would not let that happen.
“He (Wade) told me in the time-out, ‘You’re going to make a big shot,’ Eddie Jones would say later. “He knew he was going to drive and they’d double-team him and all I had to do was spot up for the pass and knock down that shot.” So glad the captain did. He deserved to. After all the criticism over all the years; his defense, his leadership, his unselfishness and that shot helped lift Miami in to the NBA’s final four. After Mourning’s block on the Larry Hughes runner that could have tied the game and Wade’s two free throws, the HEAT had done it. They had swept their way into the conference finals, winning the last two games without O’Neal. “There is winning and misery,” said Alonzo Mourning, borrowing a line made famous by HEAT President and former head-coach, Pat Riley. “I am enjoying this. It feels good to be a part of this. But we know we can’t win it all without Shaq on the floor.” Even though they have gone 8-3 without him there is no illusion moving forward. “When we know he’s not available to play for us, we know that everyone else has to step up and try to make up for what he brings to us,” said Keyon Dooling. “We’re definitely more focused when he isn’t there. He makes the game so much easier for everybody else. Obviously we’re a better team when he’s on the court but you know were a much better team when he’s healthy.” Through the first two rounds the HEAT has looked deeper than the Diesel’s right thigh-bruise. This rest, this calm before the real playoff storm begins, can only help the HEAT and O’Neal be ready for what lies ahead. “My guys are carrying me and lifting me,” says the Diesel, “but I’ll be there for them when they really, really need me.” |
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MIAMI, May 17 - With eight straight playoff wins, the MIAMI HEAT has swept their way past the Nets and the Wizards, into the Eastern Conference Finals.
In cutting down the Nets and putting down the Wizards Miami displayed many admirable characteristics; toughness, focus, talent, poise and depth. They were fast starters and cut-throat finishers. They never let the Nets or Wizards gain any confidence or ever think they could win the series.
“It was a very hard fought game,” said Van Gundy. “We needed a lot of stops down the stretch. It was a great, great win for our team. I was very proud of our team especially defensively and on the boards. Now we have to gather ourselves and try to close this out on Saturday.”
The next day, as he readied himself for Game 4, he still felt a sense of urgency, even with his team leading the series, 3-0.
After Game 3, Shaquille O’Neal was asked about the man he calls “Flash”.
It was then, where the captain, Eddie Jones, stepped forward, draining a big-time three on an assist from Wade with just 14.9 seconds left on the clock to put Miami back in front, 97-95. And EJ believes it was three-ordained.
