Sunday, March 1, 2009

Wade's Busted Lip Enough for Spoelstra to Let One Slip

March 1, 2009

If anyone saw Saturday night's game between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks, you would know what I mean when I say Wade exploded. The 6'4 guard from the Heat suffered a cut lip in the fourth quarter by an unintentional elbow to the face from Danilo Galinari, the Knicks 2008 1st-round draft pick. It took the referees over thirty seconds to call a time out - something they are obligated to do when a player begins to bleed.

That pissed Wade off and it pissed Erik Spoelstra off as well, leading the head referee to "tech-up" Spoelstra as a result of his verbal display of anger.

From that point on, Dwyane Wade put on his cape and took the role of "Flash" for the Heat. Wade went from scoring 22 points in the first three quarters, to lighting up the scoreboard with 24 additional points in the fourth quarter alone. Wade looked like his former self from the 2006 NBA Finals versus the Dallas Mavericks. He was unstoppable. One of the announcers said at one point, "you don't step on Superman's cape." Fans at the American Airlines Arena witnessed the result of such an act.

Wade finished the game with 46 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals - just two rebounds shy of a triple-double. The Miami Heat went on a 19-0 run in the fourth quarter and outscored the Knicks 37-17 on their way to an emphatic comeback win.

After the game, Coach Spoelstra was so relieved with the win that he let an expletive slip during the post-game press conference. "I drew up a simple game plan...get Wade the ball and get the f*** out of his way," Spoelstra said in response to one journalist's question. SUN Sports was airing the press conference in a live streaming format and had no time to bleep out the comment. Jason Jackson, a SUN Sports reporter, made sure to apologize for airing the coach's "slip of the tongue."

The comment needed no apology because any fan watching knew that it was a hell of a game. It was worthy of a four-letter reaction, or two. Not to mention, Wade brought himself back into MVP talks with his fourth quarter heroics in Saturday night's nail-biting finish.

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