Heat’s Wade plans to produce
He says he’ll be more effective, despite Celtics’ double-team efforts.
BOSTON —
Everywhere Dwyane Wade turned, two Boston Celtics seemed to be waiting.
And as long as Chris Bosh is out, he understands it’s probably going to stay that way. The Boston Celtics can double-team him without fear, knowing LeBron James is the only other Miami player who can consistently hurt them.
Wade scored only 18 points Friday in the Heat’s 101-91 loss in Game 3, snapping his streak of 12 straight 20-point playoff games against Boston that was the longest since Jerry West had 18 in a row from 1966-69.
Wade isn’t expecting Bosh back from his lower abdominal strain today in Game 4 (8:30 p.m., ESPN), so the scheme probably won’t change. But he vows that his performance will.
“I’m not coming here crying,” he said Saturday. “I can score the basketball, I’ve just got to find other ways to do that. It might not be a 41-point effort like it was in Indiana, you never know what each game takes, but I’m just going to go out here and play the game that I played for so many years and I will find a way to be effective.”
Wade shot 9-of-20 from the field in his second-lowest scoring performance of this postseason, after a five-point effort in Game 3 of the second round against Indiana. He was struggling with knee pain then, but insisted there was nothing wrong physically now.
The only problem, he said, was the two defenders closing on him whenever he came off a pick or caught the ball anywhere near the lane. He was also largely contained in Game 2, managing only 15 points in regulation before scoring eight in overtime to help the Heat pull out a 115-111 victory.
“As a team, we have to figure out ways to exploit the double team,” James said. “As his teammates, we’ve got to make ourselves available to make plays for ourselves, and also when the double team is not there early on offense, we’ve got to get the ball to him early so he can attack without a double team.”
Wade didn’t attempt a free throw for the first time in a playoff game since 2004, when he was a rookie, and managed just six points on 3-of-9 shooting in the first half. Still, he was far from the only problem for the Heat.
“You look at all the effort areas we dominated the first two games, we got our butt kicked in all of them (Friday) night,” said coach Erik Spoelstra.
The Dayton Dutch Lions upset the Columbus Crew last week to reach the “Sweet 16” of the U.S. Open Cup. The Dutch Lions will play another lower-division team, the Michigan Bucks, on Tuesday at Oakland University.
Meanwhile, the much-maligned MLS has only eight teams alive in this event. Another disgraced MLS side, the Chicago Fire, was eliminated by the Bucks.
The throwback rainbow jerseys worn by the Astros in Friday’s loss to the Reds were a cool blast from the past. Those jerseys have stood the test of time better than the Astrodome, which was home to the Astros from 1965-99.
The city of Houston is trying to figure out what to do with the eyesore once known as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” One option is demolition, which would cost $78 million.
Speaking of domed stadiums, the St. Louis Rams are demanding improvements to the Edward Jones Dome, a structure that was built in 1995.
The Rams’ plan could cost $700 million. Trouble is, the dome would have to be closed for three years, which means the city would miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars of convention revenue.
Rajon Rondo is trying to beat the Miami Heat by himself, but he needs help from his aging Celtics teammates.
Rondo’s spectacular Game 2 line — 44 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds — almost was enough to steal a road win in the Eastern Conference finals, but Kevin Garnett faded, Paul Pierce fouled out and gimpy Ray Allen missed a couple shots that might have clinched a win.
Nice story last week about Reds rookie Todd Frazier saving a choking man at a Pittsburgh restaurant. That’s a save situation that most people wouldn’t or couldn’t touch.