Wade Says Knee Sore, But He's Ready
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade said Wednesday that his knee is swollen and sore, but to expect him back on the court when the team squares off against the San Antonio Spurs in the deciding Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
"Early in the game I took a good shot," Wade said Wednesday after practice. "Right on my left knee, that's the knee I had surgery on (this past offseason) so that kind of trauma to it at that moment it swelled up. It was stiff, I couldn't do as much as I wanted to but I just tried to do whatever I could."
Wade has been a warrior throughout much of the last few years, playing through multiple injuries. During the current playoff run, he hasn't been fully healthy, possibly since the playoffs started nearly three months ago.
Wade's performance in Game 4 helped save the Heat from going down 3-1 to the Spurs and brought the NBA Finals back to Miami for Game 6 and Game 7. Wade had 32 points on 14-25 shooting while grabbing six rebounds, four assists, six rebounds, and one blocked shot.
In Game 6, Wade didn't make it out of halftime for the start of the second half while receiving extra treatment on his knee. Wade finished the game shooting 6-15 with 14 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots.
The question that is being asked after Wade's performance thus far in the series is how much does he actually have left in the tank.
During the NBA Finals when Wade and LeBron James have been on the court at the same time, the Heat have a +/- rating of -56. However, when LeBron is on the court without Wade, Miami is +48, meaning the Heat outscore opponents by 48 points.
As the Finals have gone on, only LeBron has played more minutes than Wade or gotten to the free throw line more than the legendary Heat guard. In the series, Wade is shooting 46.7 percent and averaging 19.5 points, 3 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and roughly one blocked shot per game.
"It's one more game left, whatever you have inside you muster it up," Wade said.
Still, if Wade can't give at least 90-100 percent in Game 7, the pressure will be ratcheted up on LeBron, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, and the rest of the Heat team to try to overcome any problems.
