Report: Dwyane Wade had fluid drained from his left knee

It’s been clear for a couple weeks now that Dwyane Wade was bothered more by his left knee than he was letting on or was in the worst playoff slump of his career. Smart money was always on the injury.

Sure enough, Wade had to have fluid drained from his knee last week, reports Michael Wallace at ESPN’s Heat Index:

But multiple sources close to Wade and the team told ESPN.com Sunday night that he required the minor draining procedure on Wednesday before the team’s loss in Game 3.

Wade was pretty terrible still in Game 3, but bounced back with a monster second half in Game 4 Sunday to even that series. He refused to discuss it, which is very Wade.

This could really help — remember back in 2010 Kobe Bryant had his knee drained a couple times on the Lakers way to a title and each time he seemed to have one of his better games a few days after the procedure.

With Chris Bosh out indefinately and the rest of the Heat role players providing inconsistent help (at best), the Heat are going to need a whole lot of LeBron James and Wade to advance past the Pacers. Let alone the Celtics or Sixers after that.