LeBron James all but asks Dwyane Wade for more help as Miami Heat enters Game ... - New York Daily News

OKLAHOMA CITY Unable to do the heavy lifting by himself in Game 1 of the Finals, LeBron James is asking for a little help from Dwyane Wade on Thursday night when the Miami Heat tries to avoid falling into a dangerous 0-2 hole against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
On Wednesday, James came as close as he could to telling Wade to give him a hand without actually ordering his teammate to turn back the clock and give the Heat a performance out of the 2006 Finals, when he was MVP.
“Sometimes I go to him and tell him I need one of those games from him,’’ James said before the Heat’s practice. “He knows he still has it, too, but every player needs a little kick every now and then, no matter how time-tested they are. I continue to try to let him know how important he is to the team, which he should know, but he also needs to be D-Wade and not worry about deferring as much.”
Wade has been anything but the Wade of old during the 2012 playoffs, and that continued Tuesday when he needed 19 shots to produce 19 points, a ratio no player wants on his stat line. In the fourth quarter, Wade came up with seven points, matching James. Together, the two were outscored and outperformed by Kevin Durant, who scored 17 of his 36 points to lift the Thunder to its first Finals victory.
The only noise Wade has made here came on Wednesday, when he discussed how Durant has had to play his pro career in a place that “kind of dims his light a little bit. . . . There’s not a lot of exciting things going on out here.’’
That’ll get the Okies good and riled, but it also might take some of the spotlight off James, although that seems next to impossible. James started off his third Finals in six seasons with a 30-point outing, but not enough clutch baskets or game-changing plays when the Thunder dominated over the final 15 minutes. His Finals record now stands at 2-9, with four straight losses.
As for whether Wade can be more Batman and less Robin in Game 2, he even seemed skeptical when someone mentioned 2006.
“I was 24,” he said. “It’s six years ago, man. I’m not that athletic as I was in ’06. But I still have something left in me. I wish it was possible to stay at the same athleticism as I had at 24, but that’s not possible.”
He has had one vintage moment in the playoffs, a 30-point game in Indiana to tie the second-round series at 2-2. This much is clear: One of Miami’s two superstars has to get the job done because Durant showed signs of being intimidated by the big stage. Reflecting back on his 36-point Finals debut, Durant, however, did admit to some nervousness, while drawing chuckles when he observed, “I’ve never seen this many people here in Oklahoma City before at a basketball game.’’
They all came to see whether James would follow through on his pledge to make more “game-changing plays” than he did last June. He didn’t, and that continued a trend that we’ve seen from “the King” in the Finals, starting in 2007 against Tim Duncan. Last season he got outperformed in clutch moments by an old Dirk Nowitzki. Now it’s a young Durant.
“This is one game,” James said. “We’ll make adjustments. This is going to be a long series. I’m not worried about the end of the series right now.”
Not if the old Dwyane Wade shows up.