Dwyane Wade was rested, and delivered

Dwyane Wade scored one off his season-high on Monday night, pouring in 34 against the Blazers.

Portland’s lack of a shot blocking threat has held back what should be a top flight team in the Western Conference, and DWade took advantage of that, especially early.

Wade is so smart driving to the basket and using his body. He uses every trick in the book to fool guys as he meanders to the rim. Wade’s explosiveness is mostly gone, and so are the years where he lived at the foul line. But with little more than wit and experience, Wade is still able to find success in the restricted area.

And in this particular game he did see the free-throw line, with a season-high 13 attempts (his previous high in that category was 8). Six of those attempts were in the final quarter, though in that time he also shot 1/6 from the field. You have to wonder if the over 35 minutes caught up with him, even after receiving the previous game off for rest. Fred Hoiberg indicated after the game that Wade was going to the next night in Detroit.

Wade has played the second night of a back-to-back twice so far this season. The first came against the Pacers when Wade shot 1/9 from the field in an ugly loss on November 5th. That game came one night after Wade scored his season high 35 points in 33 minutes against the Knicks. He shot below 30% in his other back-end appearance in an emotional game against the Heat. Wade had played 34 minutes and shot the ball well the previous game against Atlanta.

Based on the early track record this season, and Hoiberg’s general unwillingness to even have Wade suit up in this situation, I am not looking forward to watching Wade maneuver through a significantly better Pistons defense in Detroit.