Written by Nick Friedell at ESPN.com
Dwyane Wade still loves the big stage and enjoys the moments it provides. At 35 years old, Wade knows he can’t take over games all the time the way he did earlier in his career, but he can still show flashes of brilliance liked he did late in Monday’s 112-107 win against the Sacramento Kings.
With his team on the verge of blowing a 27-point third-quarter lead, and playing without Jimmy Butler for the second consecutive game, it was Wade who swooped in to save the day. He drained a 20 foot jumper over Kings small forward Matt Barnes to give the Bulls a 109-107 lead with 13 seconds left. On the next play, he stole an inbounds pass and stuffed it home to give the Bulls a four point lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“I love it, man,” Wade admitted after the game. “You want to come through every time for your team. It’s a lot of different reasons, you got some guys who grew up watching you do it and you want to show them you still can do it. You got guys like Taj [Gibson] who are always calling me a closer every time it’s late in the game. I can see the excitement in him to have me on his side. And then, too, it’s just what I love. I love to be able to come through in the clutch.”
The Bulls tried hard to snatch a defeat from the jaws of victory late Monday, but Wade, who finished with 31 points and was 12-for-18 from the field, helped right the ship for the a young Chicago Bulls team that was about to give the game away.
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