Heating up: Wade returns

Wade didn’t start Sunday’s 111-103 overtime loss at home to Charlotte, but he did finish with 12 points, eight assists and six turnovers in over 26 minutes of action.

"It was resurrection day," Wade said. "I came out to play. I also wanted to get a lot of games under my belt, to get my rhythm back and get in a groove with what the team is doing. Coming in today was a good start."

He first entered the contest with 3:58 left in the opening quarter, but his first basket didn’t come until the opening two minutes of the fourth. Wade hit one free throw near the end of regulation to force overtime, but the Heat lost and saw their lead over Washington trimmed to 2 1/2 games in the Southeast Division.

Wade originally suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of a 112-102 loss at Houston on February 21. The star guard is averaging 28.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7.9 assists this season.

This was the first time Wade has come off the bench in a game since March 12, 2004 against Seattle, his rookie season.