Miami Heat: Dwyane Wade Needs Big Game For Heat To Win Game 4 vs Hornets
If the Miami Heat are going to win Game 4 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Charlotte Hornets, they’re going to need a big game from Dwyane Wade
The blueprint to win a playoff game on the road isn’t a secret. It’s as clear as day, even though history says that it’s extremely hard to pull off such feat.
It’s also pretty simple. And if the Miami Heat are going to win Game 4 and take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Charlotte Hornets, they’re going to need a big game from Dwyane Wade.
Stars win playoff road games. It’s that simple. Of course, there’s the occasional outlier where this random team pulls off such victory. For example, this year’s Dallas Mavericks won Game 2 in Oklahoma City – and they had no business doing so. But because of a historically horrible game from Kevin Durant, they managed to pull it off.
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However, these circumstances are far and few in-between. For the most part, veteran stars are needed to win road playoff games.
Don’t believe me? Take a look at every team that has won a playoff road game in this year’s playoffs. They all have stars that made it possible.
- Indiana Pacers (Game 1) – Paul George: 33 points, six assists
- Toronto Raptors (Game 3) – Kyle Lowry & DeMar DeRozan: 41 points, 11 assists, six rebounds
- Cleveland Cavaliers (Game 3 & 4) – LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love
- Golden State Warriors (Game 4) – Klay Thompson: 23 points and five assists; Draymond Green: 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists; Andre Iguodala: 22 points, five rebound and four assists
- San Antonio Spurs (Game 3 & 4): LaMarcus Aldridge, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard
- Dallas Mavericks (Game 2): Outlier, but Dirk Nowitzki: 17 points; Raymond Felton: 21 points
- Oklahoma City Thunder (Game 3 & 4): Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook
The bottom line: stars win playoff games on the road.
For the Miami Heat, that comes down to one person: Dwyane Wade. If Miami hopes to end this series soon, winning Game 4 in Charlotte is a must for this team. And after a rough showing in Game 3, Wade needs to find his game again.
In the Heat’s Game 3 loss, Wade finished with 17 points on 7-20 shooting from the field. That’s 35 percent from the field. In Games 1 and 2, he shot 50 percent in each game.
The biggest reason why this onus falls on Wade is simple. With the Miami Heat relying on two rookies off the bench (Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson), a center that will be playing in his fourth playoff game (Hassan Whiteside) and a stating point guard that has struggled in this series (shooting 36 percent from the field), Wade has to be the guy to evaluate his game.
If not him, then who?
Question is, does he still have that type of performance in him? He did it in Game 2, so that answer is yes. But that was at home.
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Before Game 3 tipped off in Charlotte, Dwyane Wade told the media that the Miami Heat came to Charlotte for one game. They didn’t get it in Game 3, so it has to be Game 4.
It’s time for Wade to put on his batman cape in the playoffs again, something that he hadn’t had to do in a very long time (thanks to LeBron James).