MIAMI -- There are moments when Dwyane Wade drifts.
Sometimes it gets him in a bit of trouble. Just consider Saturday, when Wade's mind got away from him during a warm-up routine that left him shooting baskets at the start of the Canadian national anthem before Game 3 of the Miami Heat's first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors.
Two days of international condemnation from north of the border ensued, and Wade found himself crafting explanations, clarifications and apologies to those offended by his actions. He was so focused on making amends Monday night that he was the first Heat player to stand in line when "O Canada" was sung before Game 4 at AmericanAirlines Arena.
"No disrespect at all from me," Wade said. "I apologize for Canada thinking that I would disrespect them as a country. So I just adjusted how I normally get ready for a game and got in line first."
Then Wade started to drift again. But in this instance, it was all part of a transformation that allows him to mentally and physically deliver some of those magical moments that rescue his team from tough spots in clutch moments during big games -- just like old times.
The bottom line is Wade is going to be a huge headache for Canada -- one way or another -- for the duration of this series, which shifts back to Toronto for Game 5 on Wednesday knotted at 2-2, after the Heat rallied for a 94-87 overtime win Monday. Wade scored a game-high 30 points in Game 4 just two nights after he had 38 points in a 95-91 losing effort Saturday.
It marks the first time Wade has finished with consecutive 30-point games in the playoffs since he recorded three 30-point games in a row during the 2010 postseason. Seemingly with each game in these playoffs, Wade is doing something he used to do on a routine basis.
In the seven-game series against Charlotte, Wade rediscovered his long-abandoned 3-point shot to help the Heat stave off elimination in Game 6 and cruise to a Game 7 blowout victory. In this conference semifinal round against Toronto, Wade is channeling his quickness, explosiveness in the paint and ability to score in bunches to provide Miami's only semblance of consistent offense.
As much as the Heat might prefer to get away from Wade's brand of hero-ball and self-willing nature to get more from the likes of Goran Dragic, Luol Deng and Joe Johnson, there has come a point in every game of this series when instincts force the franchise's leading scorer to revert to familiar ways. The Heat needed every basket Wade could muster to overcome a seven-point deficit with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.
In overtime, Wade got the collective help from teammates that had been missing for much of the game. Ultimately, the Heat came together to avoid falling into a 3-1 series hole. Fittingly, after Wade did most of the heavy lifting in regulation, he was the last of five Heat players to score in overtime.
"Down the stretch, that was probably the best that we've trusted, moved the ball, had secondary drives from different guys where we've had much better patience and poise," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who has implored his team to share the ball throughout a sluggish offensive series. "I'm shocked, at this point, that we haven't been able to score 100 points, and that's not at all to discredit Toronto. It's actually the opposite. We have not been able to consistently get to our game."
That sentiment is true for the Heat as a team. But it's not so much the case for Miami's best player. Although Wade's individual dominance is hardly the Heat's preferred formula, it has become the necessary fallback this postseason. Through four games against Toronto, Wade is averaging 27.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting 49.4 percent from the field and knocking down six of 10 from 3-point range. That's coming off a regular season in which Wade finished with some of his lowest production since he was a rookie in 2003-04.
Perhaps he was pacing himself for this time of the season, when the Heat would need him most. Miami has been without perennial All-Star Chris Bosh since February because of a season-ending medical condition, and defensive anchor Hassan Whiteside could miss the rest of this series because of a sprained knee ligament.
Beyond that, Dragic's production has been sporadic, Johnson has missed all 13 of his 3-point shots in the series, and Deng has struggled to find his way against Toronto after an impactful series against Charlotte. But Wade, 34, has been reliable, particularly late in games. Three of the four games in the series have ended in overtime, and Wade has done his best work in what is defined as clutch moments.
He has scored 37 points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and in overtime this postseason, which ranks first in the NBA. On Monday, he moved ahead of LeBron James for the Heat franchise career lead with his 34th postseason game with at least 30 points.
"We feel a big responsibility on that," Johnson said of relieving Wade of some of the burden. "He's been playing so great that he's putting us on his back. We have to chip in and help him out."
Wade said he again drifts when those key moments arrive late in games. He reflects on the training regimen he went through during the offseason, one in which he changed trainers, lost about 15 pounds and reported to training camp in his best condition in years.
The most remarkable thing about Wade's performances and durability is that he's now 85 games into the season, and the Heat have had a playoff game every other day since Game 3 of their first-round series.
"In moments like this, that is what I go back to: the hard work I put in," Wade said. "When you have games like I've been able to put together, it makes you want to continue to do those things. I worked my tail off to get my body to the point where I can play at an elite level and not worry about my age or anything. I know when I'm healthy, I can play this game as good as anybody."
In that moment, Wade wasn't drifting into flashback mode. He was embracing this real-time postseason reality.
