Pass The Mike Sports

The phrases seem to come right on queue. Dwyane Wade shoots a floater against the Philadelphia Sixers. Every time Dwyane Wade has had a big game lately the narrative is always the same from sportswriters and fans. "We're seeing vintage D-Wade tonight." "Wade turned back the clock with this performance." "He's playing like the D-Wade from 2006." Let's be clear, Wade, 36, is far past his prime, but let's not act surprised anymore each time he has a big game. On Monday, he single-handedly won game 2 of this playoff series for the Miami Heat. His 28 points in just 26 minutes off the bench helped Miami snap Philadelphia's 17-game winning streak and silence Kevin Hart and the raucous Philly crowd in the process. Look what you did, @KevinHart4real . pic.twitter.com/cIPwIruXyG — ESPN (@espn) April 17, 2018 Bad stints in Chicago and Cleveland caused fans to forget just what Wade is capable of: playing clutch in big games. ...

It's probably not the match up many Heat fans envisioned, but it will be a good one nonetheless. The NBA regular season has wrapped up and the playoffs are set to begin. A number of Heat fans would have liked to see Miami lose that last game against Toronto and drop to the No. 7 seed, which would have pitted them against a Boston Celtics team without its best player Kyrie Irving, but if you've watched the Heat play this season they just tend to let you down that way. Another faction of Heat fans had their fingers crossed that maybe we'd finally see a playoff match up against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It may be time to let that dream go, Heat fans, the powers that be just won't let it happen. But here's the good news: Miami is back in the playoffs for the first time since LeBron jumped ship in 2014. The Heat have a favorable match up against a team full of young players with little or no playoff experience, which gives them a good shot to make...