MIAMI - The last time Dwyane Wade played in an NBA Finals game, he needed fluid drained from his left knee and eight hours of intense game-day therapy just to get into uniform. Steve Mandanda Jersey . The Miami Heat guard later described it in a single word. "Hell," Wade said. It was also worth it, after he scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and hoisted his third Larry OBrien Trophy. Now, unlike last year, Wade is not dealing with any injuries heading into the Miamis finals rematch against the San Antonio Spurs. At 32 years old and with 866 NBA games already on his playing odometer, Wade still deals with plenty of aches and pains, good days and bad days, and basically has a standing appointment in the Heat training room. But compared to last seasons NBA Finals, his knees are good as new. "Hes a big-time, huge piece to our puzzle," four-time NBA MVP and Heat star LeBron James said. "To have him out there in the groove that hes in right now, its going to help us." The Heat are looking to win their third straight title and Wade is on the cusp of joining a list of all-time NBA greats. There are just seven players with four championships and at least one NBA Finals MVP award on their resumes: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Havlicek, Magic Johnson, Shaquille ONeal, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and the Spurs Tim Duncan. Wade could be the eighth person in that club. "We just want to continue to add to what were accomplishing," Wade said. Almost forgotten amid all the memories of Wade limping about during last years playoffs — he whacked what was his "good" knee at this time last year, the surgically repaired left one, in a collision with the Spurs Manu Ginobili during Game 6 of the finals — is he had big games when Miami needed him. Through his first 14 games of the 2013 playoffs, Wade was averaging 13.6 points. In the final eight games of that post-season run, starting with Game 7 against Indiana, he averaged 19.8 points. And in the last four games of the finals, he averaged 23.5 points against the Spurs to close the series. As his knees got worse, Wade seemed to get better. "He still found a way last year," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He really did. He had some of his biggest games not only in the finals, but Game 7, we didnt think necessarily he was going to even play that game in the Eastern Conference finals." This year, the Heat tried to leave nothing to chance with Wades health. The so-called maintenance plan for Wade — limiting his minutes to save his knees — kicked in on the second night of the regular season. He wound up missing 28 games in all, mostly because of that rest-and-rehab scheme, to ensure that he would be good to go in the playoffs. The results cant be argued. Wade is averaging 18.7 points on 52 per cent shooting, Miami is 12-3 in the playoffs and when getting more than three days rest — like the Heat will have before Game 1 in San Antonio on Thursday night — the perennial All-Star has had games of 23, 14, 27 and 23 points on a combined 60 per cent shooting. "Dwyane is playing great," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Tuesday. "He looks a lot more spry and ready to go then he did last year in the finals." Maybe the biggest payoff of the regular-season maintenance plan has been how Wade has closed games in this post-season. Wade is shooting 56 per cent in fourth quarters during the playoffs, the best clip of his career and the best percentage of any guard with more than 30 shots in the final period of post-season games this season. San Antonios Danny Green is second on that list, shooting just under 49 per cent. Wade doesnt like talking about his place in history. But he knows what rarefied air he would be entering with a fourth title run. "I think weve all put ourselves in great situations, and were just going to continue to try to enjoy this moment that were in because its an amazing moment," Wade said. "Its something that, for a lifetime, is going to fulfil us as athletes. Even when we cant play this game, were going to always be able to talk about this." And now, when talking about his health, Wade has another one-word answer: "Better." Ousmane Dembele Jersey . According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the Maple Leafs have trade offers on the table for the 26-year-old, but none have been deemed acceptable by the team. Djibril Sidibe Jersey . Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks. http://www.nationalfrancesoccer.com/benjamin-pavard-france-jersey/ . -- The Anaheim Ducks have signed left wing Dany Heatley to a one-year deal, returning the 33-year-old unrestricted free agent to the Pacific Division.ATLANTA -- Fredi Gonzalez says if you keep putting the ball in play, good things can happen. The good things for Gonzalezs Braves on Monday night were a barrage of Mets errors which handed Atlanta the win. Three errors by New York fueled Atlantas comeback as the Braves scored four runs in the eighth and beat the Mets 5-3 for their fifth straight win. "We were never giving up, never giving any at-bats away," Gonzalez said. "Its the perfect example of putting the ball in play." The error-prone Mets wouldnt let the Braves give up. Errors by reliever Jeurys Familia (1-3), centre fielder Juan Lagares and third baseman Eric Campbell in the eighth helped the Braves rally from a 3-1 deficit. "Weve got to catch the baseball better," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "We didnt catch the baseball tonight." Anthony Varvaro (3-1) pitched one scoreless inning to earn the victory. Craig Kimbrel recorded the final three outs for his 25th save. The Braves announced late in the game that catcher Evan Gattis will be placed on the 15-day disabled list after an MRI revealed a bulging thoracic disk in his back. Curtis Granderson had two hits, including a homer, for the Mets. Trailing 3-1, the Braves loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth against Familia. Following singles by Justin Upton and Jason Heyward, Chris Johnson hit a soft grounder to Familia, who threw low to shortstop Ruben Tejada at second base for an error on what could have been a double play. "I tried to be too quick throwing to the base," Familia said. "It was my fault. Its tough because you work for something and you have a chance to make the double play and you dont make it." Tommy La Stellas single up the middle drove in Upton, and Heyward scored the tying run when Lagares bobbled the ball in centre for another error. With one out, pinch-hitter Ryan Doumits walk loaded the bases again. Campbell, the Mets fill-in third baseman while David Wright sits with a bruised left rotator cuff, bobbled Andrelton Simmons grounder for the third error of the inning, allowing Johnson to score the go-ahead run. Dana Eveland replaced Familia and walked Freddie Freeman, pushing Atlantas lead to two runs. Gattis,, hitting . Alphonse Areola Jersey. .290 with 16 homers and 39 RBIs, missed his fourth straight game on Monday night with what had been called back spasms. He said he was told 95 per cent of similar bulging disks "kind of resolve themselves" without surgery. He said hell have an epidural as early as Tuesday. Rookie Christian Bethancourt, who made his first home start, and veteran Gerald Laird will be Atlantas primary catchers for at least two weeks. New Yorks Zack Wheeler was in position for the win before the Mets eighth-inning collapse. He gave up one run on four hits and five walks in 6 1-3 innings. The Braves were held without a hit until Heyward led off the fourth with a double. The Braves scored one run in the fifth. B.J. Upton, who hit a leadoff single and moved to third on Simmons single, scored on Freemans fly ball to left field. Atlantas Alex Wood allowed three runs on six hits in six innings. He gave up runs in each of the first three innings and then recorded 11 straight outs. Granderson opened the game with his 11th homer. It was his 26th career leadoff homer. Travis dArnauds double drove in Chris Young, who reached on a single, in the second. Youngs flyball drove in Daniel Murphy from third base in the third. Collins successfully challenged a ruling that B.J. Upton stole second base in the third inning. The safe call was overturned following the review, which lasted 1 minute, 15 seconds. Uptons slide easily beat the throw, but the replay showed he was tagged when he bounced off the bag at the end of his pop-up slide. Running from right field, Heyward made a sliding catch in foul territory on Tejadas fly ball to open the fifth. NOTES: Fans with tickets to Tuesday nights game can arrive early, with gates opening at 3:30 p.m., to see the U.S.-Belgium World Cup game on the video board. ... Collins said Wright will avoid the DL, but will remain in New York for rest and treatment during the Braves series. Collins hopes Wright is ready to play Friday when the Mets open a home series against Texas. ... RHP David Carpenter (strained right biceps) is expected to come off the 15-day DL on Wednesday. ... Braves LHP Mike Minor will face Mets RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka in Tuesday nights second game of the series. ' ' '