Under MSG Lights, Miami's Wade Flourishes With Goggles
NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) — Dwyane Wade had a pretty good view of the basket at Madison Square Garden through his new, lightly tinted goggles.
For the first time Thursday night, the Miami Heat star was wearing glasses with an orange tint to protect his eyes from the bright lights as he recovers from migraine headaches. He scored 33 of his 34 points in the first three quarters of the Heat's 93-88 loss to the New York Knicks.
He was set to wear goggles with a darker tint that he used in practice all week but the league rejected that pair after the morning shootaround Thursday, and he had to switch to a new NBA-approved pair.
"They made a ruling and you abide by it so I had to make an adjustment on the fly," he said. "It wasn't ideal for me, but what can I do?"
Wade went through a stretch where he shot 14 of 15 — including 13 in a row — from the field. But the one area in which the goggles appeared to have an adverse affect was at the free throw line, where he was 6 of 14.
A 74 percent free throw shooter, Wade acknowledged he needs to get used to the glasses.
"I haven't grasped the concept how to shoot with goggles from the free throw line," Wade said. "I see Amare (Stoudemire) pull them up. I'm seeing Bo Outlaw, Buck Williams, all them guys who wear goggles pull them up, but I shoot different. If I try to do that I'm going to hit the goggles."
Wade had been trying out glasses since missing Miami's game Saturday against Toronto because of a migraine, a problem that has plagued him for years. Heat coach Eric Spoelstra said the team had been sending the league photographs of the goggles leading up to the game but that the NBA first saw them after the shootaround Thursday.
"An unfair advantage by the opponent not being able to see your eyes," Spoelstra said the league told the team.
He added with a laugh, they were "tinted too much — like a car."
The ruling is similar to the one the NFL made several years ago, prohibiting quarterbacks from wearing shields that were too dark.
Wade said he felt better after Wednesday's practice, but when he got off the plane in New York, he experienced blurred vision again and had to take more medication. He apologized to a reporter Thursday for not making eye contact while answering a question because he didn't want to look toward a light.
Spoelstra said after the shootaround that Wade possibly would take the glasses off depending on how he was feeling. The All-Star guard only briefly played in the third quarter with them propped on his forehead. Otherwise they were on all game.
Wade, though, said he did not have any headaches during the game.
The Heat were without forward Chris Bosh for Thursday's game because of a sprained left ankle. Wade was back to give Miami a Big Two with James after both he and Bosh sat out Saturday.
He still had one major uncertainty heading into his first game with the glasses.
"I don't really know how I look in them yet — I haven't even looked in the mirror," Wade joked. "I've got to make sure I look good in them, too."
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Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
