BEFORE Sunday’s do-or-die Game 7 against the Charlotte Hornets, ABC’s cameras captured Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade seeming to be overcome by emotion during the singing of the national anthem:

    “Just focused,” Wade, whose star turn late in Friday’s Game 6 extended the Heat’s season to make Sunday possible, explained to ABC’s Doris Burke after the game.

    “Thinking about the moment. This team ... it’s been, all season, we’ve had opportunities to cave, and every time we’ve been in that situation, we’ve somehow prevailed.”

    Wade and the Heat added another victory to that list Sunday. Goran Dragic scored 25 points in his first Game 7, Gerald Green added 16 and the Heat ousted the Charlotte Hornets with an emphatic 106-73 victory.

    Miami won two elimination games to take the series 4-3, and will open the Eastern Conference semifinals at Toronto on Tuesday night. The Raptors beat visiting Indiana 89-84 in Game 7 Sunday night.

    “Just great competition,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, lauding the Hornets. “Our hats go off to them. They made us better. ... I think our basketball team needed to go through that, to be pushed and find a different level which we showed in the last two games.”

    Luol Deng scored 15 points, Wade finished with 12, and Hassan Whiteside had a 10-point, 12-rebound, five-block clincher for the Heat, who have won their last four Game 7s.

    Frank Kaminsky scored 12 points for Charlotte, which got 11 from Courtney Lee and 10 from Nic Batum. The Hornets’ two biggest stars, Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson, never got going — combining for 13 points.

    “I thought we had a great season,” said Walker, who shot 3 for 16. “We were really resilient. We had a lot of injuries but we stuck together all year. When guys’ names got called to make plays and step up, they did. A lot of people didn’t even think we’d be here.”

    A contentious series, with too much attention getting placed on courtside fan behavior and NBA officiating reports, pushed Miami to the limit.

    Charlotte had a chance to close out the Heat on its home floor in Game 6, wasting the opportunity. Miami led the whole way, taking a 12-point lead at the half and stretching it to 24 by the midpoint of the third quarter.

    (SD-Agencies)