Wade adjusting to role as reserve.

MIAMI — It is the part of the season when Dwyane Wade feels most alive. It also is the part of the season that he now starts seated.

Thursday’s playoff return to AmericanAirlines Arena truly was a case for the Miami Heat guard of what’s old is new again.

For the first time, when public-address announcer Michael Baiamonte bellowed out the names of the starters, “D-wyaaaaa-ne Waaaaaa-de!” was not among his intonations.

“It’s playoff time, what you’re used to is coming and preparing for the game. You come and you run out and the crowd’s going wild,” Wade said before Thursday’s Game 3 against the Philadelphia 76ers. “You’re getting into that mode and you’re so used to having to start the game off right. So you’re so used to using that crowd of energy to get you going.”

And then . . . a seat on the bench, with the other reserves, just as had been the case in the first two games of this best-of-seven, opening-round NBA playoff series.

“But you’re not able to, because of your role,” Wade said of feeding off the opening energy. “So it’s definitely been different.

“But I’ve been just trying to focus on what I need to do when I get in the game, and focus on the guys on the court and not focus on yourself.”

Prior to this series, all 172 of Wade’s playoff appearances had come as a starter, including his six last year with the Chicago Bulls.

Wade said some of the preparation remains the same, such as conferring with the starters.

“So what I’ve been trying to do, focus on before the game,” he said, “is talking to the guys that’s out there, trying to help them with what I see, what they need to do, try to be more of a cheerleader in that, to keep yourself engaged, but also watch.”

The difference now, Wade said, is joining the game already in progress.

“Because you do get a chance to kind of sit back and watch to see how the game and the flow is going,” he said. “And when you get out there, you’ll hopefully be able to jump right into it from what you’ve seen.

“So it’s been different. In my 15 years, to be coming off the bench in the playoffs, is something that I never thought I would do. But I also never thought I would be playing 15 years.”

Prayers for Pop

Wade and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra both offered their condolences Thursday in the wake of Wednesday’s passing of Erin Popovich, the wife of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

“It’s saddening news. It caught all of us by surprise and all you can do is send all your thoughts and prayers to the Popovich family,” said Spoelstra, who is second in coaching tenure with the same team to Popovich. “I can’t even imagine going through that. Four decades of marriage, that’s, in itself, incredible. All of Heat Nation and the entire NBA fraternity sends our thoughts.”

The Heat and Spurs are tied together by their NBA Finals matchups in 2013 and ’14, with the Heat winning the title in ’13 and Popovich’s team in ’14. The tenor through both of those series was of respect between the teams and coaching staffs.

“A lot of guys around the league respect Coach Pop,” Wade said. “And I think a lot of it was from the relationship that he has with players.”

Erin Popovich, 67, had been battling illness for an extended period. Gregg Popovich has taken a leave from the Spurs, with assistant Ettore Messina coaching in his place.

“When you hear news of anyone in this league dealing with anything from a standpoint of tragedy in their families, it always touches you, it always makes the world stop,” Wade said. “It makes you have a moment to pray for them, for his family, because it’s a tough time.

“Not knowing anything about his wife, I’ve never met her, but when I eventually heard the news, I was with my wife and we just both stopped everything we were doing, and you just kind of had a moment of mourning his wife and praying for his family and hoping that this tough time they will push through together.”

Wade echoed the sentiment of Cavaliers forward LeBron James, who offered his thoughts following his team’s Wednesday playoff victory. James and Wade were Heat teammates during those ’13, ’14 NBA Finals.

“I think LeBron said it best,” Wade said, “we all compete against each other in this league, but in some form, in some way, it’s a bond and brotherhood in the game of basketball for everybody. So it’s a sad moment for the NBA whenever someone loses someone close to him, like Coach Pop did.”

CHRIS SZAGOLA/AP This is the first playoff series in his career that Dwyane Wade has not been on the floor at the beginning of the game.