This didn't feel like the other Miami heat playoff exits.
Dwyane Wade skipped into the locker room after a Game 7 loss to the Raptors Sunday. He talked about a team that "maxed out."
Head Coach Erik Spoelstra gushed about how "proud" he was.
It's a stark difference from Chris Bosh collapsing in despair after losing to Dallas in 2011.
From Wade and Lebron leaving San Antonio stunned after a beat down in 2014.
Especially when you consider the Heat were run out of Canada in Game 7 by 27 points.
But there's a good reason for the Heat holding their heads high in defeat.
With Chris Bosh out, and later, Hassan Whiteside, nobody expected Miami to make a deep playoff run.
This team's expectations were never at the level of the Big 3 Heat, but once they got battered by injuries, the 2016 Heat became overachieving underdogs.
Wade said they did everything they possibly could. And their gritty play in 14 playoff games proved that.
Wade also knows that he proved a lot of people wrong. His big contract that once seemed like too much for a 34-year-old "former" superstar, became money well-spent when Wade carried the Heat during the postseason.
He bet on himself taking a one-year contract for less than he wanted. Now he gets to cash in as a Free Agent this off-season.
Wade's final thoughts on a day where the Heat got blown out and sent home?
"I hope this organization's not snake-bitten like we were the last 2 years."
Their luck has to change eventually, right?
