The last thing the Miami Heat need while locked in a 2-2 series tie with the Toronto Raptors is tension among teammates. Good thing Erik Spoelstra says there isn’t any.
After the Heat escaped with an overtime win in Game 4 Monday night, Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported that an “uneasy tension” exists between Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic. Spoelstra had the ball in Wade’s hands for most of the end of Miami’s Game 3 loss, and Wade’s 38 points ended up not being enough. Dragic was supposedly upset over his lack of playing time.
“At the end of the game the other night, Erik Spoelstra just basically sat Dragic down and said ‘I’m going with my guy, Wade’ and Wade had 38 points,” Windhorst said, as transcribed by Anthony Chiang of The Palm Beach Post. “It was amazing, but it was a losing effort. The Heat really have to make a decision, Spoelstra has to make a decision. It’s either going to be Dragic at the controls or Wade, and I honestly think that they’re better on the long-haul with Dragic. That’s a huge decision for Erik Spoelstra to make going forward here, give the keys to Dragic or let Wade dominate.”
On Tuesday, Spoelstra said the report is simply not true.
“It’s silly, but we’re used to it,” he told reporters. “Before the playoffs even started three and a half weeks ago, that’s what we said, it brings out everything. It’s a lot of noise. Usually when you lose, there will be a lot of surprising storylines and narratives out there and you just have to be able to laugh at it. It’s never after a win, it’s just after a loss and usually has nothing to do with what actually happened in the game.”
After the Heat bounced back to win Game 4, Dragic said Wade has been “unbelievable” this postseason and admired how “unstoppable” the veteran was down the stretch in Game 3.
One thing we know is that Wade’s wife has Dragic’s back, which became evident when she sent these tweets during Game 2.
As Spoelstra mentioned, winning resolves everything. Should the Heat go on to win the series, you probably won’t hear anything else about perceived issues between Wade and Dragic.
