Wade Applies Plenty of Heat

This was a greater testament to Dwyane Wade’s skills than the Miami Heat’s chances in the Eastern Conference finals.

After all, if the Heat couldn’t beat Detroit at home on a night the Pistons shot 38% from the field and 65% from the free-throw line following a full day of dealing with the latest round of speculation about Coach Larry Brown’s future, Miami might as well exit the series.

But Wade poured in 40 points, 20 in the tight fourth quarter, and the Heat escaped with a 92-86 victory in Game 2 to even the series, 1-1, and the adulation of Wade could resume.

As Heat guard Eddie Jones said, “We do or die with him. He’s our guy.”

“The thing that I’ve always thought the great players have in key moments of the game is they have no fear of failure,” Coach Stan Van Gundy said.

The key moments come in fourth quarters in May and June. With the game in the balance Wednesday, Wade scored an electrifying 10 consecutive points for the Heat.

It shouldn’t have required such heroics from the guard. The Pistons inevitably have a clunker game in every series, and this was it. They shot 37.5% in the first half, including 16.7% on three-pointers (one for six). The Heat led by 13 points early in the third quarter.

Then the Pistons started making enough three-point shots and free throws to emerge from the third quarter with the lead. It was a tie score with four minutes remaining, before Shaquille O’Neal made a layup and converted the free throw for a three-point play that started a 7-0 spurt. Even after that, Detroit still had a shot (specifically a Rasheed Wallace three-pointer) to tie the score in the last 30 seconds.

So the Pistons weren’t depressed by the outcome. Their attitude practically matched the happy-face boxers guard Chauncey Billups wore as he gave interviews at his locker.

“They made some plays, but we had our shots,” Billups said. “We had what we wanted. We got it [down to] 87-84, we get Sheed a wide-open look. I can live with that. I’ll take that any day of the week. I heard the whole arena out there gasping for air when he took that shot. I can live with that.

“We played one of our worst halves of the season, and we still closed the gap and had a chance to win on the road in a tough place to win. You take confidence from that, but still we lost the game and that’s the bottom line.”

O’Neal gave the Heat only his third double-double of the playoffs, with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Even if he has been downgraded from dominant to adequate, he contributed enough to help the Heat get the victory.

While struggling with a bruised thigh in recent weeks, O’Neal has compared himself to a lawn mower engine, a cubic zirconium and -- worst of all -- Erick Dampier. He had a new one Wednesday night: “Just call me Ostertag/Bradley/Muresan,” he said.

That will suffice if Wade is going to be Michael/Magic/Oscar. With eight rebounds and six assists in addition to the points, Wade was back to posting the type of numbers that drew statistical comparisons to the all-time playoff greats in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

The run to greatness was rudely interrupted in Game 1, when the Pistons hounded him into a seven-for-25 shooting night and only 16 points, prompting remarks those early series against New Jersey and Washington weren’t really the playoffs.

He took the burden of the loss. He spent the time in between watching more film than Roger Ebert, taking extra shooting time after practice, getting a pep talk from Heat President Pat Riley, and then an early-morning phone call from O’Neal.

“He said it was going to be a dogfight from the beginning to the end, and I’m the leader of the team, so go out and lead the team,” Wade said. “Any time he calls me and gives me confidence to go out there and take over, I don’t want to let him down. I go out there and try to do it.”

Van Gundy gave him the space by bringing O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning out high to set screens for Wade. But the biggest adjustment was Wade’s attitude and intensity. Rather than worry about bumping bodies and blocked shots, he used his deft body control to avoid them.

For the Pistons, apparently there will be no avoiding the continuing saga of Brown’s uncertain status.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Brown has had discussions with Cleveland Cavalier owner Dan Gilbert about assuming the president of basketball operations job that was vacated when Gilbert fired Jim Paxson after the season.

“For somebody to do something like that now, for this team and these guys, that troubles me,” Brown said. “But this is what’s happening and we’re going to move on.”

At various times reports have linked Brown to the Laker and New York Knick coaching jobs as well. The difference in this latest wrinkle is that the Cavaliers are offering an executive position, not a seat on the bench. It makes it harder for Brown to get away with his standard denial.

“I’ve said to our guys 100 times that the only place I’m going to coach next season or ever is Detroit -- I think,” Brown said before Wednesday’s game.

Regardless of his statements, the general assumption around Detroit is that Brown will be gone this summer. In the interim, the general feeling in the Pistons’ locker room is that they still are in great position in this series.