Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade recently reminisced about a memorable moment he had against one of the NBA’s more iconic franchises in the New York Knicks.
Wade hit a jumper to give the Heat a two-point victory over the Knicks back in March of 2005. In 39 minutes of action, he finished the game with 24 points, five assists, three rebounds, one steal and one block on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, 1-of-1 shooting from deep and 7-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe.
The Heat improved their record to 50-16 on the season with the win.
The 2004-05 iteration of the Heat was led by Wade along with star big man Shaquille O’Neal. Both players averaged 22-plus points per game during the regular season, and Miami ended up with a terrific 59-23 record, which was the best record of any team in its division.
The Heat carried over their success from the 2004-05 regular season into the 2005 playoffs. Miami made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals after defeating the New Jersey Nets in four games and Washington Wizards in four games in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
But Wade, O’Neal and the Heat were eliminated by the Detroit Pistons in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pistons were fresh off a championship at the time, having won the 2004 NBA Finals over the Los Angeles Lakers the season prior.
Wade was arguably the Heat’s best player in their series against the Pistons. During the seven-game affair, he averaged 25.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 block per contest while shooting 44.0 percent from the floor.
In the following season, the 2005-06 campaign, the Heat went on to win their first title in franchise history. Miami came all the way back from a 2-0 series deficit against Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals to win the championship series in six games.
Wade won two more titles during his time with the Heat in 2012 and 2013, when he played alongside LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
