Empty the Bench

Mondays are ‘Tacos and 24 Night’ here at Casa de Thell. That’s why, as last night’s Bulls and Heat matchup was heading into the thrilling double-overtime conclusion, I was forced to flip away from the game.

Thank god for TiVo.

After watching Jack Bauer show those terrorist scum who’s boss (Bang! Pow! Kablamo!), we were treated to heroics even more impressive than what Mr. Bauer had pulled off: Dwyane Wade single-handedly willing his team to victory over a white-hot Ben Gordon and the Chicago Bulls.

As the fourth quarter wore on it was looking like Gordon’s night. Despite the solid line from Wade to that point Gordon was the star of the evening, hitting five three-pointers in the period to bring him to 7-for-8 from downtown on the night, eventually finishing with 43 points on 14-23 shooting. But Wade wasn’t having it, not in his house. The triple isn’t D-Wade’s forte (31% on the season), but he hit one to close out the first half. Then another to close out regulation and send it to overtime.

And then, for good measure, one more to close out the second overtime period with another W for his playoff-bound Heat.

“You never know until it goes in,” Wade said. “But I was 99.9 percent sure that one was cash.”

It wasn’t just the big shots, either. Down the stretch of regulation, overtime and the second OT Wade came up with one big block and three massive steals, the last of which he converted into the buzzer-beating dagger.

His heroic performance on Monday night has the NBA world abuzz today, and the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade has thrust himself to the forefront of the 2009 NBA MVP race. Miami fans are wondering what took so long. This has been the best individual year of his career, hands down. When you look at his line for the season, and how he’s turned this team around from last year’s 15-win campaign with the help of two rookies, you realize he should have been there all along. And after watching him tear up the Olympics this summer, we should have seen it coming.

Monday’s final line: 48 points, 12 assists, 6 boards, 4 steals, 3 blocks and 5 threes on 15-21 from the field (5-6 behind the arc), 13-18 from the line, and a game-high +20 in the +/- column with 0 personal fouls – and one spectacular game-winner for the ages.

Just another day at the office for Dwyane “Bauer” Wade.

Dwyane Wade Photo Credit: Icon SMI