Dwayne Wade was an absolute beast in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Wade dropped 38 points on the Boston Celtics, who had no answer for the Heat superstar.
Wade nailed 14 of 21 shots and 8 of 9 free throw attempts, leading Miami past Boston in a dominant display. LeBron James stepped aside to an extent and let his teammate lead the charge in game 1.
Wade's game is more than just the stats -- it's about the swagger. Our Miami Heat blog, Peninsula is Mightier, spoke about it:
The play of the game, in my mind, was Dwyane Wade waiving off Coach Spoelstra's pleas for a time out just before half time, motioning his teammates to clear out and then banking in a tough shot over Ray Allen to give the Heat a 15 lead at the break. Although Boston played well early in the third and had a nice little run late in the fourth, it really felt like Miami had the game in hand from that moment on.
The real question: where was Kevin Garnett? He scored only six points and failed to be a factor. Fortunately for Boston, Paul Pierce will not be suspended for his alleged head butt.
CelticsBlog urges Boston fans to keep a level head, and remember, it's only one game:
I thought that with a week to prepare the Celtics would be able to pick apart the Heat, but the didn't execute like they should have and Miami's talent won out for one game. If you think about it, we don't have any film of Dwyane Wade dominating against us with this current team. Now we do. Will it help? I hope so.
The second game of the series between Boston and Miami tips off at 4:00 p.m. Pacific time on TNT.