HEAT Produced: Ranking Dwyane Wade's Game 6 Performance in History

Dwyane Wade Game 6 performance vs. the Pacers was his best of the season, but is only his eighth-best playoff performance, by one statistical measure.

Alfredo Arteaga from HeatFreak.com asked where Wade's Game 6 performance in the Eastern Conference Semifinals ranked in his career, in terms of Wins Produced. This article will attempt to answer that question using the Estimated Wins Produced and Win Score statistical models. See the HEAT Produced Page for an explanation of Estimated Wins Produced and Win Score.

Three Kings Era
Wade produced more wins in 10 games last season than the estimated wins he produced in Game 6 against the Pacers. They're listed in the table below. See the 2011 regular season box scores from the HEAT Produced Page for more numbers on those games.

WADE'S TOP 10 GAMES IN 3 KINGS ERA

WHEN	PLAYER	MINS	WP48	WP	OPP	LOC	RESULT
11/29/2010	D Wade	34.7	0.73	0.528	WAS	HOME	W
2/6/2011	D Wade	37.2	0.651	0.505	LAC	HOME	W
12/11/2010	D Wade	35.6	0.679	0.504	SAC	AWAY	W
3/12/2011	D Wade	34.3	0.683	0.488	MEM	HOME	W
3/25/2011	D Wade	41	0.569	0.486	PHI	HOME	W
12/13/2010	D Wade	38.6	0.572	0.46	NOR	HOME	W
2/15/2011	D Wade	41.8	0.503	0.438	IND	AWAY	W
12/4/2010	D Wade	39.8	0.522	0.433	ATL	HOME	W
6/2/2011	D Wade	42.2	0.488	0.429	DAL	HOME	L

All of those games came in the regular season except Game 2 of the NBA Finals. You remember that one don't you? A painful memory, so let's just focus on the good parts... 36 points, 70% shooting efficiency, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 1 block and 1 turnover.

Playoff Performances

I only have estimated Wins Produced stats for the Three Kings Era, so I had to use Win Score (the basis of estimated Wins Produced) to rank the production of Wade's playoff performances.

Based on Win Score, the most productive playoff game of Wade's career was Game 3 in Philadelphia last season when he almost fucked around and got a triple-double on the way to a 3-0 series lead: 32 points, 53% shooting efficiency, 10 rebounds and 8 assists.

The spreadsheet below ranks all 98 of Wade's playoff performances by Win Score. Here are the Top 10:

1. Game 3 vs. Sixers, 2011 1st round
2. Game 2 vs. Mavs, 2011 NBA Finals
3. Game 2 vs. Nets, 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinals: 31 points, 71% shooting efficiency, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 turnover, 4 fouls
4. Game 4 vs. Pistons, 2006 Eastern Conference Finals: 31 points, 73% shooting efficiency, 15/19 FTs, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers, 1 foul
5. Game 3 vs. Pistons, 2006 Eastern Conference Finals: 35 points, 76% shooting efficiency, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 4 fouls
6. Game 1 vs. Celtics, 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals: 38 points, 71% shooting efficiency,  1 rebound,  5 assists, 3 steals,  2 blocks, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls
7. Game 5 vs. Celtics, 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals: 34 points, 68% shooting efficiency, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls
8. Game 6 vs. Pacers, 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals: 41 points, 68% shooting efficiency, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 5 turnovers, 3 fouls
9. Game 1 vs. Nets, 2005 1st round: 32 points, 67% shooting efficiency, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 0 fouls
10. Game 6 vs. Mavs, 2006 NBA Finals: 36 points, 56% shooting efficiency, 16/21 FTs, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks, 5 turnovers, 4 fouls

Ain't it just like D-Wade to have his tenth-most productive playoff performance be another elimination Game 6? It was a bigger stage, of course...