Miami Heat guard, Dwayne Wade, seems to make the news more often about his health than his performance in games during the 2013-14 NBA regular season. Despite Wade’s battling of a number of injuries over the course of the regular season, Miami Heat coach, Erik Spoelstra does not plan on placing a formal limitation on Wade’s minutes during the playoffs. Spoelstra went on the record with his stance prior to the Heat kicking off the 2014 NBA Playoff schedule on Easter Sunday. Most of the conjecture about Wade’s playing time has come from him not making it more than 23 minutes during games that occurred over the past month.

What the Heat are Saying about D-Wade?

As the Heat gear up for a chance at a “Three Peat” this post season, Coach Spoelstra has gone on the record as saying that he would be “smart” about using Wade in the first series. Wade has only played in three games since he had to sit out for nine with a strained hamstring. Based on the two way communication between the two during game play, Wade will be played or sat as part of a real-time, collaborative decision by the coach and start guard. The heat have gotten to rest since the regular season concluded this past Wednesday before kicking off the playoff series against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Dwayne Wade’s 2013-14 NBA Regular Season Performance

If you look at D-Wade’s stats from the last three regular seasons, although he is scoring a bit less at a 19 PPG clip this year, his FG, 3 point, and Free Throw percentages are up from the last two seasons. Also, he managed to play in five more games this regular season (54) than he did in 2011-12 when the Heat won their first NBA Championship with the “Big Three.” Although the Heat are getting older, many expect that if LeBron remains with the team that Miami won’t need to worry about their NBA draft position much for a few more years when Wade’s performance is expected to start declining more drastically.

Year            GP     GS          MPG      FG%       3P%       FT%        RPG       APG       SPG        BPG       PPG

2011–12   49        49           33.2        .497        .268        .791        4.8          4.6          1.7          1.3          22.1

2012–13    69       69           34.7        .521        .258        .725        5.0          5.1          1.9          .8            21.2

2013–14    54       53           32.9        .545        .281        .733        4.5          4.7          1.5          .5            19.0

2014 Miami Heat Playoff Schedule

Game    Date      Live Coverage Begins     Matchup              TV

1              Sun, Apr 20         3:30 p.m.             Bobcats at HEAT ABC

2              Wed, Apr 23       6 p.m.   Bobcats at HEAT               Sun Sports/TNT

3              Sat, Apr 26          6:30 p.m.             HEAT at Bobcats               Sun Sports/ESPN

4              Mon, Apr 28       6:30 p.m.             HEAT at Bobcats               Sun Sports/TNT

5*           Wed, Apr 30       TBD        Bobcats at HEAT               Sun Sports

6*           Fri, May 2            TBD        HEAT at Bobcats               Sun Sports

7*           Sun, May 4          TBD        Bobcats at HEAT               TBD