Where there's a will, there's a Wade.
And there was no doubt about it. It was in Dwyane Wade's will that the Heat lives to fight at least another day in the playoffs.
Setting all kind of franchise playoff records, Wade scored a season-high 46 points, including 30 in the second half, to spark the Heat to a 101-92 victory over the Celtics at AmericanAirlines Arena. The Heat staved off elimination and pulled to within 3-1 in the best-of-7 series.
Miami squandered all of an 18-point lead in the first half and ended up using a 25-7 run of its own to rally back in the fourth quarter to overcome the Celtics and force Game 5 in Boston on Tuesday.
Before the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra challenged his team to reveal its character. The Heat showed that it was in no mood to get swept this time and relive the feelings fans felt three years ago when the Chicago Bulls completed that four-game sweep in Miami.
There's another fight in this feisty Heat team.
"We got one down," guard Mario Chalmers said. "Now, we've got three more to go."
D. WADE'S DOINGS: What didn't Wade do? Perhaps sell concessions. Maybe sweep the floor and lock the gym up after the game. Then again, with his postgame workout habits, there's a good chance Wade crept back into AmericanAirlines Arena to take a few more shots. He was that hot. Why stop at 46 points? Wade set franchise playoff records for points (46), points in a half (30 in the second) and field goals made (16) on the way to delivering another of his magical postseason performances. Whatever happened to that dehydration he was supposed to be battling after Game 3? He showed no signs of that Sunday. He was simply on fire. Wade was 16 of 24 from the field, 5 of 7 from three-point range and 9 of 14 from the line. At one point late in the third quarter, he went on a streak and scored 11 consecutive Heat points. That set the tone for Miami to pull ahead by as many as 11 points late in the fourth. This, is what it's going to take from Wade in Game 5 on Tuesday to bring this series back to Miami on Thursday.
TURNING POINT: After trailing by seven late in the third quarter, Miami used a 25-7 run that began in the third and carried it to an 11-point lead in the fourth. That was enough cushion, barely, to hold off the Celtics. Wade wasn't a one-man show during that stretch. He got a significant boost from a group of reserves that included Mario Chalmers, Udonis Haslem, Dorell Wright and Joel Anthony. Still, I'd argue that Michael Beasley's putback to extend the lead to 98-92 with 1:27 left might have been as big as any single bucket of the game.
WINNING/LOSING EDGE: The Heat turned the tide on the Celtics this time. Miami outrebounded Boston 43-35 and also scored 28 points off 16 Celtics turnovers. This time, Miami was the team capitalizing off the miscues instead of committing them.
HEAD-SCRATCHER: As strange as it sounds, Miami could be up 3-1 in this series. The Heat should at least be 2-2. But it just couldn't handle the prosperity of a 14-point second-half lead in Game 1. It also lost on a buzzer-beater at home in Game 3. Miami had had its opportunities in this series. The Game 1 loss in Boston might ultimately come back to haunt the Heat in this series. That single game changed the course of this series. One half of bad basketball, in a sense. The Heat faces a tremendous uphill climb against these Celtics, who are deeper, more experiences and have been mentally stronger to this point. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Miami can steal Game 5 in Boston. Do that, and history is within its grasp, as unlikely as it seems, with the series coming back to Miami for Game 6. At the end of the day, Miami is in this position because it squandered a couple of opportunities along the way. But credit the Heat for fighting through adversity and avoiding what would have been an embarrassing sweep on its home court.
KEY CONTRIBUTION: Quentin Richardson did his thing on both ends of the court when he got his minutes. His start was huge. He scored 20 points, the second-high playoff total of his career. He knocked down four three-pointers to tie his postseason career high. Most importantly, he scored the first eight points of the game for Miami en route to a 13-point first quarter, his highest scoring quarter since he joined the Heat. His seven made field goals also tied his postseason career high. Richardson's mouth has made a bigger impact on this series than his game. He started to change that with Sunday's performance. Richardson emerged from Sunday's game with a split on the ring finger of his left hand. The team called it a hand contusion. Richardson said the injury wouldn't keep him out of Game 5.
NEXT UP: Heat at Boston Celtics, 7 p.m. Tuesday - TD Garden.
(For live news, notes and updates on the Heat, follow me on Twitter @ twitter.com/wallacesports. To post a question or join our live Heat chat each Thursday from 1-2 p.m., click here.)
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