After a gut-wrenching loss to the Celtics in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round, the HEAT found themselves in no man’s land down 3-0.
And while Miami would eventually fall to the soon-to-be Eastern Conference Champion, Dwyane Wade ensured it wouldn’t be a sweep.
On April 25, 2010, with his team’s back against the wall, Wade responded with a playoff career-high 46 points on 16-of-24 shooting from the field, including 5-of-7 from deep, and 9-of-14 from the line, five boards, five assists and two steals to give the HEAT a 101-92 victory.
He may have made it look easy, but that was far from the case.
To get things started, Wade scored 14 points in the opening period to put Miami up 31-18 after one. He then rattled off 11 points in the third, including this remarkable jam over Kevin Garnett:
However, Boston stormed back and took a 77-71 lead into the fourth.
That’s when Wade had enough.
The then-28-year-old simply took matters into his own hands and led all players with 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a perfect 4-of-4 from distance, in the final quarter.
“I just got aggressive,” Wade said after the game. “I came out of the timeout, I said, ‘I ain’t trying to sound like I did in ’06, but we ain’t going to go out like this again’. So, I just came out very aggressive shooting the ball, made some shots, and it got everybody going.”
Although the HEAT would ultimately lose the series two days later, that shouldn’t take anything away from Wade’s greatness in Game 4.