CLEVELAND, Ohio — Down by a game-high 22 points following Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum’s putback layup, Cavs sixth man Caris LeVert used a Dean Wade brush screen and then flipped the ball to Wade on the left wing, directly in front of the Boston bench. With no hesitation, Wade launched a high-arching 3-pointer over the outstretched arms of Celtics 7-footer Luke Kornet.
Splash.
At that point, with about nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, there was no way of knowing the ordinary jumper in a lopsided matchup would be the dawn of the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in franchise history and the latest chapter in an unlikely NBA story.
“The rim looked like a swimming pool,” Wade said.
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The unheralded and often-overlooked 27-year-old forward, who had scored just 14 points in the previous eight games combined and was suddenly falling further down the rotational depth chart, ignited a 34-11 run with a deluge of 3-pointers that turned another Celtics blowout into Cleveland’s most improbable — and thrilling — victory this season, snapping Boston’s NBA-high 11-game winning streak and handing the Celtics just their 13th loss of the season and first since Feb. 1.
Wade capped his career night with a ferocious game-winning two-handed putback dunk following a Darius Garland miss with 19 seconds left that caused bedlam inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and had NFL star Travis Kelce, Wade’s favorite football player, acting like a maniac from his courtside seat.
During the legendary fourth quarter, Wade scored 20 points, hitting all seven of his shot attempts, including five 3-pointers. He outscored the Celtics on his own, 20-17. In all, Wade poured in a career-best 23 points to go with eight rebounds, two steals and an assist in 21 game-changing minutes. With him on the floor, the undermanned Cavs were plus-16.
Cleveland, currently third in the Eastern Conference and eight games back of top-seeded Boston, entered the night without starters Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus, both of whom are nursing knee injuries.
Mitchell has missed three straight games and received a PRP injection on Monday. He is set for re-evaluation this weekend. Tuesday was Strus’ first absence this season, a result of a right knee sprain suffered at the end of Sunday’s deflating 107-98 loss to rival New York.
As if the Cavs’ challenge didn’t already seem daunting enough, young forward Evan Mobley was lost to a nasty-looking ankle sprain midway through the third quarter, rolling his ankle on a wide-open dunk. In considerable pain, Mobley was seen leaving the arena on crutches.
Heading into the fourth quarter, trailing most of the game and with 60% of the starting lineup and usual closing quintet suddenly missing, Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff got creative and turned to an unlikely source of offense.
Wade.
The guy who averages 2.0 fourth-quarter points, the 10th-fewest on the roster, in just 5.2 fourth-quarter minutes. The guy who was plastered to the bench the entire second half up to that point. The guy who had made one basket in nine minutes of game action through the first three quarters.
“This is a version of Dean Wade that we’ve seen in the past. It’s the one that we press and press and press for him to be,” Bickerstaff said. “When Dean Wade is playing with that extreme confidence, he’s a hell of a basketball player. He’s a multifaceted guy, he’s not just a spot-up shooter. We know the things he can do defensively. But he has an offensive game and tonight he got it rolling.
“The belief, the confidence, that’s who Dean Wade is at his core.”
In the past, those early-game shooting struggles could’ve led to hesitation and doubt. But with his teammates’ unwavering support, Wade is more confident this season. He is surer of himself and has a better understanding of his role. He has worked his way up the depth chart, going from undrafted benchwarmer a few years ago to a trusted member of this playoff contender.
Going into the fourth quarter, recognizing that Mobley wasn’t coming back, teammate Georges Niang gave Wade a brief pep talk.
“We came out in the fourth and he was like, ‘Empty the clip, man. It doesn’t matter. We’re not going home with any regrets about this game. If you got your shots, shoot ‘em every time. Get ‘em up.’ And that’s what we did,” Wade said of Niang’s message. “Having that confidence in me really motivated me and gave myself confidence. Came out in the fourth quarter, and they found me. Every single time I was open, the ball was in my hands. Gotta give it to all of my teammates just having that confidence in me.”
Wade’s career highlight came on a national stage against the Celtics, who were 43-3 when ahead after three quarters and had won their last six games by at least 14 points, with an average margin of victory of 29.8 points in that stretch. It came with the Cavs missing three starters and in danger of losing a second straight game and third in the last four. It came on a night Wade started horribly, glued to the bench the entire second half. It came with the Kelce brothers in the sellout crowd, sporting personalized jerseys, tossing mini basketballs, chugging beers, riling up the crowd and celebrating the historic comeback.
Wade authored a script that Hollywood would’ve deemed too fictitious.
“We’re relentless,” Garland said. “This group is super confident in themselves and we had Dean Wade tonight, so that made it a lot easier for us. A big spark for us. We really need that from him on a night-to-night basis.”
Following the game, Wade, who grew up in a small Kansas town and is an unapologetic Chiefs fanatic, had a jubilant embrace and brief chat with Kelce that led to the Pro Bowl tight end jokingly cooling him off and then making an unexpected offer.
“He said if basketball didn’t work out for me, I could be a backup tight end,” Wade said. “I got good hands. That was just awesome. Pretty cool. My teammates were just giving me crap in (the locker room) for that, but nah, it was pretty cool.”
The Kelces were on hand as the Cavs honored them with a bobblehead depicting the Cleveland Heights-native NFL stars. Jason Kelce, who retired from the Philadelphia Eagles after 13 seasons on Monday, was presented with a No. 62 jersey.
“Tonight was for sure one of those nights where it didn’t look good for us with nine minutes left,” Jarrett Allen said. “You could look up in the crowd and see people leaving. You could look around and everybody’s looking down. But we stayed together as a team.
“Once the Kelce brothers started hyping up the crowd, it was like, ‘Oh, we can do this.’ The whole crowd got into it. You could feel the whole momentum shift.”
Not Allen. Not Garland. Not LeVert. Not Mitchell. Not Strus. Not Mobley. Not any of Cleveland’s marquee players.
Wade was the catalyst — and the closer.
“That’s the Dean Wade we all know he can be,” Allen said. “He finally showed it tonight.”
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