Dwyane Wade took over late in the Miami Heat’s 108-101 win over the Orlando Magic. That was more than enough against an individualistic Magic offense.
Evan Fournier was draped on Dwyane Wade as the came down to its final moments. This was the same play NBA fans have seen for years with hose same tell-tale options.
Wade could drive it, tapping into that reserve of youthful speed. He could pull up for the jumper. He could step back and fade away. He could slither his way into the lane with the help of a pick and roll.
Each option remains as dangerous in a close game as the next.
When those offensive efficiencies go down and hero ball takes over late in games, this is when even an aging, constantly fighting-against-injury Wade can still produce some magic.
Wade still has that spark in him. Again and again, Fournier would have the shot challenged, keeping Wade in front of him, and Wade would jab step or fake to create just enough separation and fire the shot. Somehow each time it found its way into the net.
Wade scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, making four of his five shots. Many of those shots were not easy. They were the kind of shots superstars make. The kind of shots the Magic cannot afford to be taking often in games.
“Dwyane hit a couple of tough shots near the end for sure,” Magic coach Scott Skiles said. “I thought Evan had a couple good possessions where Dwyane hit shots. During the area of the game when we started getting greedy offensively and not playing as a team, they had layup, layup, layup and a tip in and an and-1. We were breaking down on both ends of the floor.”
Orlando’s offense was by no means bad in Saturday’s 108-101 loss to the Miami Heat at Amway Center. The team posted a 117.8 offensive rating. The team recorded a season-high 31 assists.
Yet the fourth quarter, and really the second half was a slog. Only Nikola Vucevic and Elfrid Payton seemed capable of scoring in the fourth quarter as Miami climbed fatefully and fully out of the hole it dug itself in the first half, and Orlando failed to get any kind of stop. Even with good defense as in those Wade moments.
The Magic have sensed a slippage defensively, but it was most stark in those moments and throughout Saturday’s game as the Magic lost a 15-point lead.
“I think it comes from the slippage defensively and they made a run and maybe we panicked and everyone tried to be the hero instead of doing what we do.” –Nikola Vucevic
“I think it comes from the slippage defensively and they made a run and maybe we panicked and everyone tried to be the hero instead of doing what we do,” Nikola Vucevic said. “I don’t think anybody was trying to be selfish, everybody was trying to make the big play for us to get going.”
It has been a problem, Skiles said, when the game gets tight or there is pressure on the team. They sometimes put the blinders on and try to make the big play.
Take for instance one sequence in the fourth quarter. Mario Hezonja drove baseline and got caught in a trap. He whipped a difficult pass to Victor Oladipo who tried to one-hand the ball to Jason Smith back in the lane. The Heat easily stole the ball and went down to the other end for a Chris Bosh 3-pointer.
There were big plays to be made, but simple ones also would have done the job. And likely done the job more effectively.
The simple and efficient ball movement the Magic had in the first half helped build their lead. The Heat were missing shots and that made the Magic’s defense look plenty good and get them into a good rhythm.
Working in the half court became too difficult and Orlando struggled to rediscover its rhythm.
“We had 18 assists, two turnovers in the first half and the ball was moving great,” Skiles said. “As it went from 15 to nine, it was every guy putting his head down, driving into traffic. Even at the end of the game. It’s not how we play well.”
The Magic, Skiles said, are not good enough to play this way. It is as simple as that.
They do not have the kind of players that handing the ball to the guy and letting him work will get the job done efficiently. Not like Wade or Bosh.
Both superstars had their runs through the game. Chris Bosh scored nine points himself in the fourth quarter scoring or assisting on 12 of the Heat’s first 15 points in the 39-point quarter. Wade scored or assisted on 13 of the Heat’s final 17 points in the game.
These are players who can simply take over a game and put tremendous pressure on a defense. When a team like the Magic can build a lead, they almost have to make sure they can put them down for good.
“I knew I was going to be aggressive,” Wade said. “I knew the ball was going to be in my hands a lot and maybe toward the end. Sometimes I don’t understand what that might mean. Sometimes it might mean being aggressive and getting off the ball. I made a big pass and Goran hit a big three for us. Offensively, I got a couple gaps and I raised up and shot.”
Wade makes it sound so simple. And even with how the Magic have played offense of late — the best offensive rating in the league the last five games — it seems simple.
Offense is not simple for this team though. Or at least it is not as simple as handing the ball to one player and letting them get to work.
When the Magic were rolling Saturday offensively, it was because the team moved the ball. A player drove in, sucked Hassan Whiteside or the defense to them and kicked it out to the open man. As Erik Spoelstra said, it seemed in the first half the Magic found their man every time and made the shot.
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Those shots eventually did stop falling. And even though the Magic were successful at times charging to the rim, the team’s turnovers went up and the the efficiency began to dip.
At least, the Magic could not keep up with the Heat in the end.
The lack of a go-to star to generate something from nothing hurt the Magic in the end. Payton was driving and trying to score on every possession with little support from teammates.
His kickout late to Evan Fournier fell no good. There was little support for him outside of Vucevic. That is not how the Magic need to play.
“Just continue to do what we do,” said Payton on how the team can combat star players like Wade. “Like I said, he made tough shots. You just got to live with the results. Do a little bit extra to get him to miss. I still have to look at it, but from the court it looked like tough shots to me.”
Saturday, the Magic did not have that extra bit on either end. Their bad habits came to roost in a close, gut-wrenching loss.
Next: Orlando Magic let win slip away in loss to Miami Heat
The team that finished that game is not the team the Magic need to be.