From Durant to Curry to Kobe, NBA greats react to Wade’s game-winner
Moments after Kevin Durant tried unsuccessfully to disrupt Dwyane Wade’s improbable game-winning shot at the buzzer, Durant had a revelation.
“I just realized,” the Warriors’ star forward said after Miami’s 126-125 win, “that I won’t ever play against him again, and it’s a crazy feeling. He’s done so much for the game. He’s such an amazing player and person. I’ve been watching him since middle school, and this is one crazy way to go out with an ending like tonight.”
Wade’s final NBA season has been filled with wonderful memories, but nothing will top Wednesday’s game-winning 25-footer, a shot Wade banked off the glass and launched after his initial attempts were disrupted by Durant and blocked by Jordan Bell just a second earlier.
And even though Wade was off balance when he launched the winner, the Warriors immediately feared the worst.
“I knew Dwyane was going to hit that shot once it came off his hands,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “It had the perfect distance to bank in. This kind of game for him to finish the way he did was incredible. It was a phenomenal game. He’s had a lot of incredible moments and I’m sure this moment was up there for him.”
The Warriors, of course, can shake off this loss and resume their quest for a third consecutive NBA title. So afterward, inside and outside their locker-room, the overriding emotion conveyed was appreciation and respect for Wade, who celebrated his game-winner by sprinting across the AmericanAirlines Arena court, embracing teammates and jumping on the scorer’s table and pounding his chest.
“There’s something special about what he did tonight,” Golden State guard Steph Curry said. “I much rather see him jumping on the scorer’s table when we’re not playing against him. What he’s done for this city is amazing and I know how much Miami loves him.
“It was a wild play. We made a great recovery and somehow he tip-toed behind the line and knocked it down. He got his moment and it was crazy.”
Durant’s take: “It was an amazing play by him. I’m not sure why he was that open on the three-point line, so I just tried to get to him as soon as possible. He deserved to win this game.”
Draymond Green wasn’t sure what the Warriors could have done differently on that play.
“We played good defense and he made the shot,” Green said. “It’s exciting what he’s doing. There’s so many guys that you see limp out at that age, but he’s still good. Each generation of people is getting a chance to see him play as well as he is.”
Warriors forward Jordan Bell -- who was credited with a block on Wade’s initial attempt with 1.3 seconds left before Wade grabbed his own blocked shot out of the air – said: “I remember just trying to get to the ball. He wasn’t my man. I was contesting like three people, trying to make sure they didn’t have a good look. Wade had the ball in the middle, spun, Kevin blocked it, got to the three-point line. I blocked it and then he kind of just threw it up and made it.”
The shot reverberated across the country, too.
Wade, in his postgame interview with Fox Sports Sun’s Jason Jackson, referenced a previous Kobe Bryant game winner.
“When Kobe hit that game-winner on me in L.A., he hit it off the glass at the top of the key, I said, ‘How is that possible?’ Thank you for showing me the way, Mamba Mentality.”
Bryant responded on Twitter shortly after that interview, tweeting: “My man, Dwyane Wade. #Last dance,” with a flexing muscle emoji.
Wade summed up the night thusly: “It was just an amazing moment. Definitely one of my toughest game-winners I have ever hit. This definitely was special, especially in my last year. To be able to have special moments, that is the biggest thing for me. To not be in this year and people saying, ‘Yeah, I see why he is leaving.’ To be able to still have moments and to still be a player that coach trusts to go to down the stretch and my teammates trust to find me. That means a lot to me because I still work very hard on my craft.”
And the celebration afterward? “I don’t know; I was just running,” he said. “It is an out of body experience. The coolest thing was just the embrace from your guys.”
THIS AND THAT
Hassan Whiteside (strained hip) and James Johnson (shoulder) did not accompany the Heat to Houston for Thursday’s game against the Rockets.
▪ The Heat scored at least 120 points in consecutive games for only the fourth time in franchise history and the first time since December 2013. Miami scored 121 in Monday’s loss to Phoenix.
▪ With Wade scoring 25 and Goran Dragic scoring 27 on Wednesday, it marked the first time the Heat had two reserves score at least 25 points in a game since Michael Beasley had 28 and Daequan Cook 27 in a March 2009 game against Phoenix.
For a lot more reaction and notes from the game, please check out my Wednesday night story here...
Twitter: @flasportsbuzz
This story was originally published February 28, 2019 at 9:19 AM.
