SI:AM | The Cavs’ Unlikely Hero

Plus, our ranking of the top 50 NFL free agents.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. If you need another reason to love Jason Kelce, read this story about his relationship with his trainer.

In today’s SI:AM:

⛹️‍♂️ Dean Wade’s career night

🏈 Top 50 NFL free agents

🌳 Your favorite March Madness team

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The other D-Wade

When I wrote on Monday about the Boston Celtics’ 11-game winning streak and the challenges they’d face on a five-game road trip, I didn’t really think the streak would come to an end last night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavs were without their best player, Donovan Mitchell, but still came away with a thrilling 105–104 victory, thanks to a fourth-quarter scoring outburst by the most unlikely of players.

The Celtics appeared to have the game locked up when they took a 93–71 lead with nine minutes left to play, but then Cleveland came storming back with a furious 31–6 run over the next seven minutes to take a 103–99 lead. Eighteen of those 31 points were scored by a guy who entered the night averaging just 5.1 per game: Dean Wade.

Wade was on fire in the fourth, outscoring the Celtics all by himself. He had 20 points, while Boston scored just 17. Wade was a perfect 7 of 7 from the field, including 5 of 5 from three. He also had the game-winning, put-back dunk with 19 seconds left after Darius Garland missed a layup.

​​“It’s kind of like, your mind’s quiet, and the rim looks huge. That’s all I can tell you,” Wade said after the game. “The rim looked like a swimming pool.”

Complete with the Kelce brothers courtside, it was a playoff-like atmosphere in Cleveland as the Cavs mounted their ferocious comeback, but the game ended with a thud. In the closing seconds, with Cleveland leading by one point, the Celtics put the ball in the hands of Jayson Tatum, who was defended tightly by Garland. Tatum hoisted a step-back jumper that clanged off the iron. But Garland was whistled for a foul on the play, and it appeared as though Tatum would head to the free-throw line needing to make just one of two shots to force overtime.

The Cavaliers challenged the call, though, and after a review it was determined that Tatum initiated the contact by kicking his leg out. (Watch the play here.) The foul call was overturned and the Cavs won the game. The Cleveland crowd erupted when the referee announced the result of the replay review, but it’s still somewhat disappointing to have the deciding moment of such a great game be a lengthy video review.

The strange finish won’t make the night any less memorable for Wade, though. It was by far the most impressive performance of his career. He’s carved out a niche for himself as a role player for the Cavs after going undrafted out of Kansas State in 2019, but he’s never erupted like that before. Wade is ninth on the team in minutes played per game this season. In Cleveland’s previous game, on Sunday against the New York Knicks, he played 20 minutes and didn’t score a point. Then he went out last night and buried five threes in a span of seven minutes, plus the game-winning dunk. He entered last night having only scored 20 points in a game three times in his career. Then he scored 20 in the fourth quarter alone.

The Cavs can’t count on Wade to go off like again, but still, picking up a hard-fought win over a full-strength Celtics team bodes well for their postseason chances. Cleveland was missing two starters last night (Mitchell and Max Strus) but was able to lean on its depth. Wade was one of five Cavs players who scored in double figures, along with Garland, Jarrett Allen, Isaac Okoro and Caris LeVert. The Cavs improved to 40–21 with the win, remaining in third place in the East. The Celtics should still be the favorites to emerge out of the conference, but mounting such a remarkable comeback without two of their top players shows why the Cavaliers should also be considered serious title contenders.

The best of Sports Illustrated

MaCabe Brown/Courier & Press/USA TODAY Network

• Get ready for NFL free agency with Gilberto Manzano and Matt Verderame’s list of the top 50 players available.
• Manzano also compiled a list of last year’s worst free agent signings.
• With the Giants choosing not to place the franchise tag on Saquon Barkley, Albert Breer analyzes what the market for running backs could look like.
• The Bucks’ biggest problem before Doc Rivers took over as coach was their defense, but now it’s among the best in the league. Rohan Nadkarni broke down exactly what Milwaukee has changed and why the improved D makes it a title contender.
• Your favorite March Madness team is probably going to be the Indiana State men, who are having their best season since Larry Bird left Terre Haute. Pat Forde has more on what makes the Sycamores so lovable.
• After the Dartmouth men’s basketball team’s historic union election yesterday, Richard Johnson explains what it could mean for the future of college sports.
• Isaiah Thomas has signed with a G-League team as he attempts an NBA comeback.

The top five...

… things I saw last night:

5. Kevin Durant’s game-tying three to force overtime against the Nuggets. The Suns went on to win in OT, with KD scoring eight of Phoenix’s 15 points in the extra period.

4. Timo Meier’s one-handed goal for the Devils.

3. David Savard’s lucky bounce that led to the second Canadiens goal in a span of six seconds.

2. KJ Johnson’s buzzer beater to give North Alabama an upset victory over Lipscomb in the ASUN tournament.

1. The heartwarming story behind why Jason Kelce had his ankles taped before his retirement announcement.

SIQ

Which of the following cities did not have a team when the United States Football League began its first season on this day in 1983?

• Atlanta
• Birmingham, Ala.
• Boston
• Oakland

Yesterday’s SIQ: Hall of Fame Dead Ball era slugger Sam Thompson, who was born on March 5, 1860, began his big league career with Detroit’s short-lived National League team. What was the team’s nickname?

• Lions
• Wolverines
• Spartans
• Trappers

Answer: Wolverines. The team played just eight seasons, from 1881 to ’88, but did win the ’87 World Series over the St. Louis Browns.

Thompson was one of the greatest power hitters of his era, leading the league in home runs twice (with 20 in 1889 and 18 in ’95). He played his first four seasons with Detroit before being acquired by the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of the ’88 season.

Today, the Wolverines name is obviously best known for being the nickname for the University of Michigan. The origins of that name are unclear, though. While Michigan’s early economy was based on fur trapping, there is no evidence that wolverines ever inhabited the area, according to the university. The most widely accepted theory is that the nickname stems from the early 1800s border dispute between Michigan and Ohio, although it isn’t clear whether Michiganders adopted the name themselves as a way to project ferocity or if Ohioans applied it to their northern neighbors as an insult. Whatever the case, Michigan became known as the Wolverine State, and more than one major sports team adopted the nickname.