The Heat did not necessarily need Wade to have a big game to reach its first NBA Finals since 2006, but it wouldn’t have hurt.
After a sluggish overall game, it was Wade who ended up igniting an 18-3 finish, as the Heat prevailed 83-80.
Miami now returns to the Finals, and Wade got his wish.
Wade said before Game 5 that the Heat was just as desperate as the Bulls, and needed to play like it. And although he started out well with seven points in the first quarter, Wade looked more like he might have been waiting to get back to Miami for Game 6 with a chance to clinch at home.
“We’re desperate, too,” Wade said. “We didn’t work this hard to put ourself in this position, to be up 3-1, to not be able to match their energy and effort.”
Wade made a basket along with 5 of 6 free-throw attempts in the opening quarter, but his play fizzled from there. He scored just two points in each of the next two quarters. Wade was 1 for 5 from the field in the middle periods, as the Heat trailed the Bulls 45-38 at halftime and 62-57 after three.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/27/2237688/dwyane-wade-rises-to-occasion.html#ixzz1NXCRDEFh
