Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat: Dwyane Wade’s Homecoming Takeaways
Dwyane Wade Returns to Miami
Wade had himself a throwback game of sorts against the Hawks on Wednesday night, scoring 25 points on 58.8 percent shooting. He also had five steals. Those numbers seem a bit high for what is expected of Wade in a season where he will turn 35 years old. The most surprising numbers was his minutes played.
Know that they had a game that was important to the team, but much more so to the player, the following night, Wade still managed to clock 33 minutes of playing time. Generally, that doesn’t bode well for the following night.
It was no minor miracle that Wade played 32 minutes the following night against the Heat. And not only did he play that many minutes in a road back-to-back, but he contributed early in both games, helping to keep the Bulls from being put away early.
He played just over six minutes to open the game with four points and two rebounds in that span. Some to note about his playing time moving forward is the pattern emerging from Hoiberg and his minutes rotations for his “big three” players. Wade was the first starter to the bench tonight, not surprisingly, but he also found his way back to the court for the opening and closing stretches of every quarter.
The effect of playing back-to-back road games was evident, despite some vintage Wade moments like his spin that left Justise Winslow behind on the baseline before he finished through contact with a reverse layup.
dang dwyane pic.twitter.com/XYIQG7UY9K
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) November 11, 2016
Those callbacks to the glory days of the Wade era in Miami were bookended by tired legs and poor shooting: 29.4 percent field goals shooting and 0-for-4 from 3-point range.
There was a certain amount of appropriateness in the way Wade finished his first game as a visitor in Miami, sinking two free throws that sealed the game with 13.7 seconds left, giving Chicago a 96-92 lead. I’m sure there were a lot of feels between Wade and his former teammates and coaches, but after back-to-back 30+ minute outings, I’m sure Wade is glad to get the “W” and call it a day.