It's All About No. 3

MIAMI

You can have LeBron James. You can have Kobe Bryant. You can have any pick on the playground . . . anybody from here to China. Just let me have Dwyane Wade. When the Los Angeles Lakers began talking trade with the Heat two years ago about sending Shaq to Miami, there was one player Pat Riley wouldn't part with in any deal: D. Wade. And when Riley called Shaq with the news that the Big Fella would be headed to South Beach, Shaq held his breath for a second and asked, "Pat, who did you have to give up?"

As much as Shaq liked the idea of coming to Miami, the thought of not being able to play with Wade made him hold his breath.

Yes, Wade is that good. He's good enough to change the direction of the NBA Finals when the whole board was tilted toward Texas. He's humble enough to tell everybody the Heat is Shaq's team, even though it's his. He's smart enough to become Shaq's Little Brother, something Kobe wouldn't do. Wade is tough enough to play through the pain of a bruised left knee in a critical championship game Tuesday night, and talented enough to dominate it. Is there anything else?

Wade picked up his fifth foul with 10:56 to play? So what? Leave him in there. Of course, Riley had to leave Wade on the floor one foul from disqualification. Wade's his best player. Wade's his only hope in this series, no matter how desperate that hope is. After Dallas nearly ran Miami off the court with a 34-16 third quarter explosion, Miami turned to Wade, no matter his foul trouble or injured knee.

The Dallas lead reached 13 before Wade went to work again. He hit a three-pointer when he doesn't even shoot threes. Wade down the left baseline, Wade down the right baseline, Wade out of the corner. Wade out of the corner again. Wade down the lane for a dunk off the throbbing left leg. Wade, Wade, Wade.

There's no need of talking about Shaq or Riley or anything else that happened here in Miami Tuesday night. Gary Payton might have given Miami the lead with 9.3 seconds left on his clutch jumper, his only shot of the night and just maybe the biggest shot of his long career. But that was secondary.

Primarily, Wade happened. He happened the same way Jordan did and Isiah did and Bird before that and Magic before that. Wade put his name up there in the bright, bright lights with this one because he won a game virtually by himself. If Payton hadn't hit the shot, Wade would have. He resuscitated his teammates, propped them up to clear their foggy heads, then demanded they come with him for the ride. They were dead, Shaq and all the rest of them were dead. Season over. See you on South Beach.

"It didn't look good," Riley said afterward. "It didn't feel good. We were stuck in mud."

It looked like quicksand, they were sinking so badly.

Shaq called Wade "big."

Avery Johnson called Wade "persistent."