MIAMI - The last time Dwyane Wade played in an NBA Finals game, he needed fluid drained from his left knee and eight hours of intense game-day therapy just to get into uniform. Patrick Patterson Jersey . The Miami Heat guard later described it in a single word. "Hell," Wade said. It was also worth it, after he scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and hoisted his third Larry OBrien Trophy. Now, unlike last year, Wade is not dealing with any injuries heading into the Miamis finals rematch against the San Antonio Spurs. At 32 years old and with 866 NBA games already on his playing odometer, Wade still deals with plenty of aches and pains, good days and bad days, and basically has a standing appointment in the Heat training room. But compared to last seasons NBA Finals, his knees are good as new. "Hes a big-time, huge piece to our puzzle," four-time NBA MVP and Heat star LeBron James said. "To have him out there in the groove that hes in right now, its going to help us." The Heat are looking to win their third straight title and Wade is on the cusp of joining a list of all-time NBA greats. There are just seven players with four championships and at least one NBA Finals MVP award on their resumes: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Havlicek, Magic Johnson, Shaquille ONeal, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and the Spurs Tim Duncan. Wade could be the eighth person in that club. "We just want to continue to add to what were accomplishing," Wade said. Almost forgotten amid all the memories of Wade limping about during last years playoffs — he whacked what was his "good" knee at this time last year, the surgically repaired left one, in a collision with the Spurs Manu Ginobili during Game 6 of the finals — is he had big games when Miami needed him. Through his first 14 games of the 2013 playoffs, Wade was averaging 13.6 points. In the final eight games of that post-season run, starting with Game 7 against Indiana, he averaged 19.8 points. And in the last four games of the finals, he averaged 23.5 points against the Spurs to close the series. As his knees got worse, Wade seemed to get better. "He still found a way last year," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He really did. He had some of his biggest games not only in the finals, but Game 7, we didnt think necessarily he was going to even play that game in the Eastern Conference finals." This year, the Heat tried to leave nothing to chance with Wades health. The so-called maintenance plan for Wade — limiting his minutes to save his knees — kicked in on the second night of the regular season. He wound up missing 28 games in all, mostly because of that rest-and-rehab scheme, to ensure that he would be good to go in the playoffs. The results cant be argued. Wade is averaging 18.7 points on 52 per cent shooting, Miami is 12-3 in the playoffs and when getting more than three days rest — like the Heat will have before Game 1 in San Antonio on Thursday night — the perennial All-Star has had games of 23, 14, 27 and 23 points on a combined 60 per cent shooting. "Dwyane is playing great," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Tuesday. "He looks a lot more spry and ready to go then he did last year in the finals." Maybe the biggest payoff of the regular-season maintenance plan has been how Wade has closed games in this post-season. Wade is shooting 56 per cent in fourth quarters during the playoffs, the best clip of his career and the best percentage of any guard with more than 30 shots in the final period of post-season games this season. San Antonios Danny Green is second on that list, shooting just under 49 per cent. Wade doesnt like talking about his place in history. But he knows what rarefied air he would be entering with a fourth title run. "I think weve all put ourselves in great situations, and were just going to continue to try to enjoy this moment that were in because its an amazing moment," Wade said. "Its something that, for a lifetime, is going to fulfil us as athletes. Even when we cant play this game, were going to always be able to talk about this." And now, when talking about his health, Wade has another one-word answer: "Better." Terrance Ferguson Jersey . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Russell Westbrook Jersey . So it was understandable if he was a little shaky early in his return to the Texas Rangers rotation. He spent most of the outing searching for his best stuff, but still managed to shut down the struggling Minnesota Twins offence. http://www.authenticthunderauthority.com/kyle-singler-thunder-jersey-c-19/ .C. -- Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith has been ruled out for Sundays game against the Atlanta Falcons.Uniondale, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - After a slow start, the Montreal Canadiens scored three unanswered goals to top the New York Islanders, 3-1, on Tuesday. Carey Price made 37 saves for the Canadiens, who have won five of their last six games. Montreal got second-period goals from Andrei Markov and Brendan Gallagher, and David Desharnais added an insurance marker late in the third period to seal the win. Kyle Okposo scored for the Islanders 12 minutes into the game, but they did not light the lamp again as they lost their four-game winning streak. Chad Johnson got the start in net for New York and made 18 saves on 21 shots. The Canadiens needed 14 minutes just to get their first shot on goal, but the second period went much better. Montreal was able to tie the game six minutes into the middle period. With traffic in front of the net, Markov blasted a shot from the blue line past Johnson for the equalizer. Just five minutes later the Canadiens moved in front. On a 3-on-2, Gallagher dropped a pass off to Alex Galchenyuk and drove to the net. Galchenyuk set up Sergei Gonchar for a shot that was partially blocked, and Gallagher pounded the loose puck in the slot past Johnson for the 2-1 lead. We didnt change anything sysstem-wise, said Gallagher. Ray Allen Jersey. . I think we just started competing better. Late in the game the Canadiens added an insurance goal before New York could even get the extra attacker on the ice. In transition, Lars Eller found Desharnais cutting to the net, and Desharnais was able to redirect the pass past Johnson for the two-goal lead with 1:11 left in the game. Yeah, its frustrating. Thats all I can really say, said Johnson. The Islanders were buzzing early in the game, as they fired 11 shots on Price before Johnson had to make his first save. New York capitalized on that fast start with the first goal. After some strong skating through the neutral zone from John Tavares created a 2-on-1 rush, Okposo received Tavares pass and snapped the puck by Price for the 1-0 lead. Game Notes Price moved passed Ken Dryden for third-most games in Canadiens history by a goaltender ... Markov has two goals and four assists in a five-game point streak ... This was Markovs 800th NHL game, all with Montreal ... Galchenyuk has four goals and three assists in his four-game point streak ... Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak did not dress with what was described as a maintenance day. Jerseys From China Jerseys NFL China Jerseys NFL China Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Jerseys NFL China Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys ' ' '