Dwyane Wade came close to teaming with Jimmy Butler on a unique achievement in
Saturday’s triumph over the Cavaliers.
How close?
One single, solitary rebound, and he had his own teammate to blame.
With Butler having already achieved a triple-double, Wade needed just one board
to join him as the final seconds wound down.
That rebound was nearly in Wade’s grasp — until, that is, reserve center
Cristiano Felicio reached over him to grab the ball, knocking it free and
preventing Wade and Butler from becoming just the eighth set of NBA teammates to
total triple-doubles in the same game, and the first since Vince Carter and
Jason Kidd did it for the Nets in April 2007.
Wade’s response in his postgame interview? “My teammate didn’t want me to be
great,” with tongue seemingly in cheek.
Wade later “forgave” Felicio after the Brazilian big man expressed remorse via
Twitter.
Butler finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, while Wade had 20
points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.
Among the triple-double teammates they just missed joining were Bulls legends
Michael Jordan (41 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds) and Scottie Pippen (15
points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds), who achieved the feat in Jan. 1989.
