Dion Waiters sticks it to the Cavs and let their fans know about it

Feb 4, 2017; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters (11) steals the ball away from Philadelphia 76ers guard Sergio Rodriguez (14) during the second half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 4, 2017; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters (11) steals the ball away from Philadelphia 76ers guard Sergio Rodriguez (14) during the second half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters let Cavs fans know what he is all about after he hit a dagger three to seal a shocking win over the leaders of the East.

You’ve got to love Dion Waiters.

The Miami Heat guard has had a resurgent season and has become the backbone of a team that has catapulted its way up the Eastern Conference standings. But there was an added edge to him when he set foot on the floor at Quicken Loans Arean, a place where he spent his first three seasons in the league.

Maybe it was all of the memories that came flooding back for Waiters, memories of loss after loss after loss after LeBron James took his talents to South Beach. Waiters and Kyrie Irving were supposed to be the faces of the Cavs in the post-LeBron era.

But it wasn’t meant to be, and the Cavs sent him packing to Oklahoma City in 2015.

After two years in the middle of nowhere, he wound up on a Miami team that was picked by everyone (including yours truly) to toil at the bottom of the East this season. At first, it seemed that way, but thanks to the play of Waiters, the Heat have taken off, and now resemble a team that nobody in the East’s upper tier wants to see in the first round.

After Monday night, you can include the Cavs on that list.

On this night, the Heat dominated the defending champs nearly all night before a late rally cut the Heat’s sizable lead down to single digits. But Miami fended them off, and with 12 seconds to go and the Heat leading 103-98, Waiters launched a bomb from Ohio City which banked off the glass and into the hoop.

After his back-breaker, he let the same fans that ridiculed him for years know what the true Waiters is all about. That’s why that moment seemed all but perfect, for Waiters and the Heat.

Next: NBA: 2000s All-Decade First Team

With their win over the Cavs in Cleveland, the Heat proved that they are for real, and Waiters proved that he has the moxie to be a dominant piece of a good team’s puzzle.