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| Washington Wizards v/s Miami Heat December 18, 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Miami is 20-5 over the past three seasons without its All-Star shooting guard. The Heat beat the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center for the first time in a decade Thursday while Wade watched from the bench because of a sprained foot. The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reports Wade won’t play against the Suns, either, but does it matter? LeBron James runs the show for Miami. He and Wade form dynamic fast breaks, but in the halfcourt offense, Wade often seems useless because he’s the worst three-point shooter among Miami’s guards. Mike Miller and Ray Allen offer James perfect kick-out options on pick-and-rolls while also not demanding the ball or taking bad shots. Miami has a better per-minute point differential without Wade on the court, as shown by 82games.com. So it’s easy to see why the Heat keep winning without Wade.
But there’s a counterpoint: James can’t do it all the time. Even the best player in the NBA has bad nights and needs breaks. Wade remains among the best scorers and players in the league, and his own creativity allows James to take breathers. So the Heat do need Wade over the course of a season, even if they’re better without him over short stretches.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/tonights-nba-schedule-do-heat-really-need-dwyane-wade/
