There is an old quote, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” This quote is often attributed to Mark Twain, yet that is not able to be confirmed in any primary document. What I do know however is that the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade is retiring as one of the big dogs in NBA history and is proving he still has some fight even though father time remains undefeated.
Flash was in the building. Wade scored 14 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and the Miami Heat won their season-high moreover needed third straight home game by surpassing the Atlanta Hawks 114-113 on Monday night.
“The coach was calling my number; the guys were looking for me, I got a couple of shots to fall, you get in a rhythm, it felt good” Wade said. “We needed it; we have had trouble with this team.”
It was the highest-scoring quarter of the season for Wade, Miami stymied Atlanta for the first time in four tries. Individually, Wade climbed up in the record books.
Wade’s block of Atlanta’s B.J. Johnson in the second quarter was not an ordinary block. It was the 1,052nd blocked shot of Wade’s career, including playoffs — the most ever by a guard, one more than Michael Jordan. That’s right, MJ. However, the regular-season mark still belongs to Jordan, who has 893 to Wade’s 877.
“It is good,” Wade said. “I take pride in my ability to block shots in so many different ways, especially now to even more with my ability to block a shot.”
Johnson became the 449th player to have a shot blocked by Wade. Joe Johnson and Ben Gordon each got blocked 12 times by Wade, the most of any other player. The shortest to have one swatted by Wade was Earl Boykins, listed at 5-foot-5. The tallest players who Wade hindered were both recorded at 7-foot-3 — former Heat center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Dallas’ Kristaps Porzingis.
Wade made three consecutive jumpers, including a 3, to spark a 12-2 run in the fourth that took the Heat lead up to nine with about five minutes left.
“Josh’s voice is heard every day,” Wade said. “These guys are getting more comfortable in a role we need them to do. It was not comfortable for me when I became a leader. It is the nature of it. You are next up.”
Josh Richardson scored 19 points, and Justise Winslow added 18 for the Heat, who pulled into a tie with Charlotte for ninth place in the Eastern Conference. Dion Waiters scored 14, and Kelly Olynyk added 12. The Heat
“Finally winning some games at home,” Wade said. “You want to have some home dominance.”
Vince Carter scored 21 points, all on 3-pointers, for the Hawks — in his final basketball battle with Wade.
“Vince kept making big shots, he game out the gates balling,” Wade said. “It is always a joy playing against Vince. It is my last time playing against him, it is the way to go out.”
Kent Bazemore had 18 points, and Trae Young finished with 14 points and eight assists for the Hawks.
The beat goes on.
Hawks host San Antonio on Monday. Heat are taking their talents to Charlotte on Wednesday. The Heat are 0-2 this season against the Hornets.
