Lots of reaction and notes from the Heat's 106-73 romp over Charlotte in Game 7 today:

DWYANE WADE'S THOUGHTS

• Wade denied he was crying during the national anthem, though ABC insisted otherwise after showing video of him.

"I wasn't crying," he said. "I was focused in and sweating, I am sure."

Wade said: "I am not a Prophet or anything, but I knew we were winning this game. I think for me as a leader, I am really just proud of my guys. It is an amazing feeling when you are fighting versus a team who is just as equal as you are and are able to pull it out in a game seven. That shows a lot about you."

Wade, talking big picture: "It feels good. Not making the playoffs last season, I have been here for 13 years and I have been to the playoffs for 11 years. That is what we are used to and I am used to. It was weird to say the least last year. I think for this team, it helped us in a lot of ways and individually it helped me get some rest.

"Every time we had it look like the door is about to close, we somehow, some way open that door and push through it and continue to push forward. This is a great moment for this team.

"I think with Goran [Dragic], we love when he's aggressive. No one is harder on Goran than Goran. He wants to be so great all the time and I think he puts a lot of pressure on himself. I thought Goran did the right thing by coming out this game and putting some pressure on [Kemba] Walker and making it hard on him on the defensive end. Today it was Goran's moment and we loved it. We don't have a lot of selfish guys and it really is about enjoying each other's success and we have been able to do that."

GORAN DRAGIC'S THOUGHTS

• Dragic, after his terrific 25-point game today: "[The paint] was just open. I felt the paint was more open, so I could attack. It was a little easier that the games before....

"I will be honest. It was pressure before the game. We felt like we had the momentum, especially after the win in their place. I felt like they didn't have their legs and were not aggressive enough. We played amazing defensively and offensively. Our 58 rebounds [to Charlotte's 36] helped a lot.'

On guarding Kemba Walker: "It was a tough series. I need to give credit to Charlotte and Kemba. He is such an amazing player. It is tough to stay in front of him. Our team defense did an amazing job."

On his struggles earlier in this series: "Sometimes you're going to be in a tough situation, or in my situation, you are going to get a couple quick fouls. I didn't get a lot of rhythm in the first four games. You just need to stay positive and when that moment comes, you need to be ready to help your team."

ERIK SPOELSTRA'S THOUGHTS

• Spoelstra: "They made us better. Our basketball team needed to go through that [being down 3-2] and be pushed and find a different level which we showed in the past two games. That's when you truly grow when you face adversity together. We've been through a lot this year. But we're still standing. This series was so bizarre [at times]. We started to play a little more like Charlotte and they started to play a little more like us."

On Dragic: "What I love about Goran is he continues to focus on doing his job. Kemba Walker is one of the very best in this league. It's a travesty he's not an All-Star. In a 7-game series, so many things can happen. Sometimes, one guy will get the best of the competition and you have to be mentally stable enough... Goran was not discouraged. He wanted to produce for the guys. One of it was getting through foul trouble early in the series. Competing on the ball would wear on him. And then he found opportunities to really be aggressive. He had the most energy today. Goran had to be a big factor for us tonight."

On Hassan Whiteside: "Hassan got better and we got better from this as well. There aren't that many back-to-the-basket guys, a guy who has an array of moves and experience [like Al Jefferson]. You just don't face that every night, like you did 15 years ago. It was so important for him to be protecting the rim for us. They're going to be running 40, 50 pick and rolls. And then [having to defend Jefferson on top of that]. It was a big challenge for him. And he got better as the series went on. A lot of it was being beat and learning from it. I was proud of him."

HASSAN WHITESIDE'S THOUGHTS

• Whiteside (10 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks): "We really played Miami Heat defense, got a lot of stops. I just tried to block everything. I woke up this morning and I told my cousin, 'Today, I'm going to try to block everything."

At times, Charlotte players didn't challenge him. "I got a couple early blocks, [was actually credited with one in the first half]," he said. "I think I kind of set the tone: Not today. They know I block a lot of shots. All I need is for them to think about me."

"Just trying to keep [Walker and Jeremy Lin] out of the paint as much as as possible. Al Jefferson, keeping him away from the right hand. I think we surprised him finally with the double-team on one possession."

Whiteside, on Dragic: "Goran was attacking Kemba, attacking their bigs. I told Goran to keep attacking. They were so focused on not stepping up, stopping the ball, so I wouldn't get the ball. He had a lot of wide open layups.

"When Goran was going downhill, I said, 'Hey man, I'm going to screen everybody for you and make sure you and D-Wade stay in the paint.'... With Kemba, we really made him play defense more. He made it a tough series for us. We attacked him so he had to play defense. They don't have any shot-blockers, so we were at the rim."

On what the Heat overcame with adversity in this series: "We needed it. This gave us a better focus. Don't get down on ourselves. After we lost Game 5, guys were down. And I said, 'We're going to steal one in Charlotte.'

On his growth in this series, facing a lot of swarming defenders: "It was good. They have a great coach in Cliff. They made it tough. They screened me all night. It was a little different with Al. He's one of the top post-up centers in the league. It was a real challenge."

Was it frustrating not to get a lot of shots in this series? "This team is probably one of the top two teams in taking away the center's role. This is a team that's going to make it very tough on the center's position to score, the way they pack the paint."

On tonight's Toronto-Indy Game 7: "I want homecourt, so go Indy."

TYLER JOHNSON, JOE JOHNSON AND GERALD GREEN WEIGH IN

• Tyler Johnson, who played for the first time since Jan. 26 and scored five points in six late minutes, said his surgically-repaired shoulder "felt normal. As my wind starts to pick up again, I won't even think about it. I was able to settle in after the first shot."

He said Josh Richardson "earned" the chance to keep his rotation spot, even with Johnson back. "He became a big-time player and contributor for the team. I understand I'm not going to be able to jump right back in where I was before I got hurt. But as we move on and as we see what's needed, I'll be ready."

• Gerald Green, who had a trying season but scored 16 today: "I'm not going to lie. I never want to not play. It's tough. But I see the bigger picture. I see we're a great team with the addition of Joe Johnson and if I keep working, there might be a game like this where I can help push my team over the edge.... I have a different role with this team than I did my previous years. I had to accept that.

"My teammates trust me a lot. Sometimes they trust me so much, I don't even have trust in myself like that. I will always be ready. Whatever minutes coach gives me, I have to make sure I'm productive."

• Did this reinforce Joe Johnson's decision to sign here? "Definitely. Was planning to come to a team capable of winning it, and coming to a winning franchise. I am glad we are moving on to the second round, but we still have a lot of work left to do."

TRESPASSING INCIDENT

• The Heat said an unidentified boy was charged with trespassing and ejected from the game after running on the court during a stoppage in the fourth quarter. The youngster hugged Justise Winslow's leg.

"I was surprised," Winslow said. "He gave me a little hug, a little tap on the shoulder. It don't know where he went. It was cool."

STEVE CLIFFORD'S THOUGHTS

• Hornets coach Steve Clifford: "Goran changed the whole thing today. He got going early and we really bogged down on offense. Obviously a bad start because of the rebounding game. Playing from behind on the road. They went 10-2 to finish the half. I thought at halftime, with our team, I thought we were fine. And then things got away from us. We obviously didn't play anywhere near where we would have liked to. The 50/50 balls, which have been a problem all year, crushed us.

"We had a great year, for our team. The NBA is about winning in the playoffs. We can take this and learn from it. I am proud of our guys. I thought they played a good series [before] today. Any level, you're going to be viewed by how you do in the playoffs. That's more than fair. We had a terrific regular season. This would have been a huge win for our franchise. I'm still proud of our guys. This wasn't like 4-0."

On Walker, who went 3 for 16: "He got some good pullups particularly in the third. I don't think their coverages were a lot different." Miami sagged off Frank Kaminsky and sent a second defender at Walker at times, but Clifford said the Heat had been doing that in previous games.

On Whiteside: "He had 10 blocks [in a game against us earlier this year]. We limited him to five tonight. Only make him an all-time great. His instincts, his utilization, they are funneling everything to him, so he's close to the basket. He's big, strong, quick and can jump and can cover distance. There's not many guys that can do what he does in this league."

THIS AND THAT

• This was the fourth time in franchise history in which the Heat won a series after trailing 3-2.

• Today was the 122nd postseason Game 7 in NBA history and the home team has won 98 times (80.3 percent).

• It was just the 34th time in 187 chances that a team losing Game 5 of a tied series won the sixth and seventh times. That's 18.2 percent.

• The Heat held the Hornets to 32.1 percent shooting, the third game in which Miami held Charlotte under 40 percent.

• The Heat set a postseason record with a 22-rebound advantage today. Miami's 58 total rebounds were also a franchise playoff record.

• The Heat's 50 blocks in this series were a franchise record. Whiteside had 24 of them, which broke Alonzo Mourning's Heat record for blocks in a playoff series (21, against Detroit in 2005 Eastern Finals).

• Wade moved past Wilt Chamberlain into 17th on the NBA's all-time postseason scoring list, with 3614. Elgin Baylor is 16th, nine points ahead of Wade.

• Heat second-round tickets go on sale at 2 p.m. Monday at heat.com and ticketmaster.com. There's an eight-ticket limit per person.

• ESPN reported the Heat complained “to the highest levels of the league office” after Game 4 after what the Heat deemed to be favorable officiating with Hornets guard Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lin.

Clifford doesn’t buy the Heat’s argument. “I don’t think any of the officiating in any of the games has been a big factor,” Clifford said. “If you want to go through the reports where they categorize missed calls, the Heat don’t have anything to complain about, nor do we.”

On the day after games, the NBA releases a report on officiating calls and non-calls during the final two minutes and “in terms of who has gotten the benefit of more missed calls according to the NBA, then they’ve gotten more than we have,” Clifford said. “I don’t think the officials have been a factor but they [the Heat] don’t have anything to complain about.”

HEAT SCHEDULE

Game 1 – Tue May 3 Miami at Toronto 8:00PM 8:00PM TNT

Game 2 – Thu May 5 Miami at Toronto 8:00PM 8:00PM ESPN

Game 3 – Sat May 7 Toronto at Miami 5:00PM 5:00PM ESPN

Game 4 – Mon May 9 Toronto at Miami 8:00PM 8:00PM TNT

Game 5 * Wed May 11 Miami at Toronto TBD TBD TNT

Game 6 * Fri May 13 Toronto at Miami TBD TBD ESPN

Game 7 * Sun May 15 Miami at Toronto TBD TBD TBD