NBA Playoffs: Heat advance to the Eastern Conference Finals behind Wade’s 41 points

Exactly one week ago, Dwyane Wade was held to five points on 2-13 shooting as the Pacers mauled the at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse to take a 2-1 series lead. Tonight, Wade flipped script on the Pacers, and ended their season in the process as the Heat won game 6 by a final score of 105-93.

Wade was absolutely electric in Game 6 in a way that only Wade can be. When Wade’s mid-range jumper is working, he’s almost completely impossible to stop, and his jumper was working like gangbusters. Wade went glass from mid-range time and time again, and the results were positive, to say the least — Wade made all 8 of his mid-range jumpers from the left side of the court, which allowed him to get into the paint with impunity and completely pick apart the Pacers’ defense. Wade finished with 41 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 17-25 from the floor, and his offensive onslaught is the primary reason why the Heat won Game 6.

LeBron James didn’t match Wade’s output, but he had an excellent game as well, recording 28 points, 6 rebounds, and a game-high 7 assists for the Heat. It’s not often that you’ll see a 3-time MVP put up that kind of a statline in a close-out playoff game and be a complete non-story after the game, but that’s what makes this Heat team so unique.

With LeBron and especially Wade both having great games, the Heat didn’t need much out of their supporting cast, and they got what they needed from the three-point shooting of Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers. Chalmers has been inconsistent throughout the playoffs, and the perpetually banged-up Mike Miller has been a massive disappointment throughout his time with the Heat, but the two combined to make all seven of Miami’s three-pointers on just 11 attempts between them. Miller’s shooting in particular was a pleasant surprise — Miller shot 4-7 from beyond the arc, which is just the third time Miller has made four or more threes in a game since signing with the Heat.

Shane Battier came back to earth in a major way in Game 6 — he was forced to play 40 minutes thanks to Udonis Haslem and only shot 1-7 from the field while allowing David West to score 24 points on 10-16 shooting, but Chalmers and Miller were able to pick up the slack for him and give LeBron and Wade enough support to close out the series.

Outside of strong performances from West and George Hill, who finished the game with 18 points, the Pacers didn’t have much going for them. Roy Hibbert had just 12 points on 8 field goal attempts. Danny Granger shot 6-14. The Pacer bench was outscored by Miami’s. The Pacers are a young, deep, good team that had a serious chance in this series, especially after Bosh went down, but they ultimately simply didn’t have the firepower to keep up with what James and Wade were able to do. This is a very, very, good basketball team, but they might need a lot of things to go their way if they ever want to seriously contend for a championship with their relative lack of star power.

Miami will now move onto the Eastern Conference Finals against either the Celtics or the 76ers, and will almost certainly be sizable favorites against either team, even though early reports indicate that Chris Bosh will not be back for either of the first two games of the series. Miami should feel good about this series victory, and neither Boston or Philadelphia looks all that menacing right now, but this is no time for the Heat to rest on their laurels. They’re still missing the 3rd member of their “big three,” they’re about to go up against one of the 3 best defensive teams in the league this season, and they’re only one home loss in the first two games away from finding themselves on the back foot in the series. And the Heat know better than anyone that any finish other than a championship will be a complete failure for them.