On this night, Wade delivered with the Heat leading 87-81 and a little less than 4 minutes left. He’d stubbornly burned the Mavericks’ double- and triple-teams all series long — “Some of that stuff you can’t teach,” Dallas coach Avery Johnson marveled afterward — and when Wade drifted to the right side of the 3-point arc, defenders Devin Harris and Jerry Stackhouse raced over and dared him to try again.

Instead, Wade spotted James Posey alone in the right corner and dished one more time. In the moment after that, suddenly, the comparisons didn’t seem so far-fetched.

All night long, Dallas’ defense lived by a simple credo: make somebody, anybody, other than Wade beat them. And all night long, those somebodies in Miami uniforms struggled to hold up their end of the bargain. But Wade kept giving them opportunities.

How many? As a team, the Heat finished 2-for-18 behind the arc. Walker was 0-for-6, Jason Williams 1-for-7 and Payton 0-for-1. Posey was 0-for-3 when Wade went back to him one more time. This time, the 3-pointer drew nothing but net.

“Biggest play of the game,” Riley crowed.

And here’s why: For all his reticence to usher Wade into the Michael, Magic & Larry stratosphere, Riley knows the real measure of greatness isn’t what a player can do by himself, but how much better he makes those around him.

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Jordan forged his teammates into reliable tools by turning practices into white-hot tests. No one dared let him down. Magic turned the trick with wondrous passes, putting them in positions where missing a shot was almost tougher than making it. His attitude was infectious. Bird was a little of both, taskmaster or cheerleader, depending on what the moment demanded.

Wade is still a work in progress. He doesn’t have Jordan’s domineering presence, Magic’s inspirational skills or Bird’s versatility — yet. And he only has one ring — so far.

But he already has as much of a following as he could want.

“You know, to me, it’s still crazy when I walk around and I see people wearing my jersey, people wearing my shoes, people out there, the demand for ’Wade’ stuff, it’s truly a blessing and still weird to me,” Wade said.

“I’m sure some kids will go in the backyard and try to be like me, and that’s great. But it’s one kid that really does it, and that’s my son at home. I see him do it every day. He wants to be Dwyane Wade, and, you know,” he added, “it’s just great, man.”