Dwyane Wade made one thing abundantly clear on Monday afternoon.
He’s not a fan of the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report.
“That report sucks,” Wade said. “I’ve said that multiple times. That report is awful for the game of basketball.”
Wade’s frustration stemmed from his shot attempt that missed with 1.8 seconds left in overtime of this past Saturday’s 110-109 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. Wade thought a foul should have been called on the Nets’ DeMarre Carroll on his drive to the basket. No call was made, which the league stated in the report was the correct call.
The report stated that “Carroll [BKN] maintains legal guarding position and makes incidental contact with Wade [MIA] that does not affect his drive to the basket or ability to follow through naturally during his shot attempt.”
The NBA uses the play-by-play report in regards to all calls and material noncalls in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter or the last two minutes of any overtime period (if applicable) for all games (including playoffs) that meet designated criteria.
The only incorrect call that hurt the Heat according to the report was Justise Winslow’s block of Joe Harris with 1:26 left in overtime, stating that “Winslow had clean block of Harris and should not have been called for a foul.”
“Thanks for nothing,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after Saturday’s game believing then that the report would determine a foul should have been called.
But that was not the case.
“I shouldn’t have said something because sometimes when you say something they’ll definitely take the opposite angle and stance on that,” Spoelstra said. “Whatever, that’s behind us. We got a good look at it. We have several good looks at the end.”
FEELING BETTER
Wade, who hurt his left wrist on the Heat’s second-to-last possession of the game Saturday, said it felt much better and expects to play against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.
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Spoelstra also said Wade’s wrist responded well to treatment over the ensuing day.
“I did a lot of treatment yesterday on it,” Wade said. “I’m not really worried about it because it’s my left hand. It’s my left hand so I don’t use it that much anyway.”
BACK IN THEIR HANDS
The Heat didn’t get any help and later didn’t help itself on Saturday in its bid to clinch a playoff berth.
Miami, which leads the Detroit Pistons by four games with five remaining, gets another opportunity to wrap up a spot in the postseason Tuesday night at home against the Hawks. The Heat can also clinch if the Pistons lose at home to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.
“We got to really clinch it,” Hassan Whiteside said. “That’s why these games mean so much. You want them so bad, and when you’re right there it’s frustrating at times. But we definitely got to get this one with Atlanta. We play them again the next day, and get that one too. They’ve got a great coaching staff, so it’s not going to be an easy one.”
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