Dwyane Wade is the difference as Miami Heat ties series against Toronto Raptors

Just about everyone struggled to score, with one very notable exception.

Dwyane Wade was rolling.

And the Miami Heat couldn’t be more thankful.

Wade scored 30 points Monday night, including a layup that sent the game to overtime and finished off Miami’s frantic comeback from a nine-point deficit, and the Heat defeated the Toronto Raptors, 94-87, at Miami in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The series is tied 2-2, heading to Toronto for Game 5 on Wednesday.

“It looked dark for a minute,” Wade said, “but there was no quit in us.”

It looked dark for a lot of minutes before Wade and the Heat figured it out. Goran Dragic scored 15 points, including a three-point play that just about clinched it for the Heat with 22.4 seconds to play in overtime.

Joe Johnson also scored 15, despite still being without a three-pointer in the series, and set the tone with two blocked shots in the first 59 seconds of the extra session.

Wade didn’t score in overtime until his steal and dunk closed the scoring.

“I was tired,” he said. “I was using myself as a decoy. All eyes were on me and I wasn’t going to force anything.”

The Heat led for only 13 seconds in the fourth quarter but never trailed in overtime — the third time in four games that the two teams needed five extra minutes to decide a winner.

“That’s what you get when two teams are trying to make the conference finals,” said Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, who fouled out late in regulation after scoring only 10 points on two-for-11 shooting and blamed himself for the loss. “We’re going at it.”

Terrence Ross and Cory Joseph each scored 14 points for the Raptors, who made 39% of their shots.

Bismack Biyombo and DeMarre Carroll added 13 apiece for the Raptors, while the starting backcourt of Lowry and DeMar DeRozan — who is obviously bothered by a thumb injury — combined for 19 points on six-for-28 shooting.

“Two tough-minded teams,” Raptors Coach Dwane Casey said. “They came out and forced their will on us at the end of the game.”

Miami was down, 77-68, midway through the fourth and still trailed, 79-72, when Lowry got the roll on a 15-footer with five minutes left.

That’s when Wade went to work.

He scored the next five points for Miami, getting the Heat within 79-77. The deficit was still two when Lowry fouled out — on an offensive foul — with 1:58 left. The Heat finally got the equalizer with 12.6 seconds left, Wade getting to the rim for a layup that tied the score at 83-83.

Joseph missed a jumper to end regulation and the Raptors scored only four points in overtime.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt this game was going to go into overtime,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s just one heck of a series.”

Wade has been the star of the series, averaging 27.3 points a game — nine more than any other player.

“I’m as confident as I’ve been all season right now,” Wade said.