MIAMI -- It's a crying shame Dwyane Wade insists it wasn't a tear.

Wade is too prideful to admit that the streak of moisture streaming from his eye, caught by television cameras during Sunday's national anthem before Game 7, was anything other than a misunderstanding.

"I wasn't crying," Wade said. "I was focused and sweating, I'm sure."

Wade's attempt to clarify the situation was the only thing the Miami Heat seemed to miss on throughout the day as they finally shook free of the Charlotte Hornets in a grueling first-round series, and rolled into the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 106-73 victory.

Tear or no tear, there's no denying how emotionally draining the past two weeks have been for the Heat, who went from heights of a 2-0 series lead after a pair of franchise record-setting offensive performances to the lows of three straight losses that left them facing elimination entering Game 6. Yet Miami finished the series in much the same fashion as it started it.

Less than 48 hours after Wade's late-game heroics lifted the Heat to a win in Charlotte to stave off elimination Friday night, Goran Dragic emerged from a slump with a game-high 25 points to push Miami to the fifth-most lopsided Game 7 victory in NBA postseason history.

And 48 hours after leaving the AmericanAirlines Arena floor Sunday, the Heat will face Toronto in Game 1 of the second round. That's barely enough time for the embattled franchise to exhale before forging ahead in a season that has been defined by injuries, attrition and perseverance.

Despite both finishing the season with 48 victories, Miami had home-court advantage as the third seed based on regular-season tiebreakers and was favored to beat Charlotte. But as has been the case all season long, Miami’s path to meeting expectations has been littered with adversity. Players and coaches spoke at length after the game of how everything they endured this season essentially flashed through their minds as they prepared for the most decisive game of their season.

Wade pointed to how tough it is for the Heat to keep pushing through the season without perennial All-Star Chris Bosh, who remains on the bench in street clothes and sidelined by a medical condition that has kept him out since February. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has frequently mentioned the resolve required for his staff to get through most of the season as assistant Keith Smart battled through 30 rounds of chemotherapy to treat a rare form of skin cancer that is now in remission. Luol Deng spoke of the trades, injuries and scheme changes that have left the team constantly shifting amid turbulence.

In addition to all of that, Dragic is just relieved the Kemba Walker nightmares are over.

"I will be honest, it was pressure before the game," said Dragic, who had been hampered and frustrated by foul trouble and shooting woes throughout the series before his Game 7 breakthrough. "Every team faces tough times [and] we know those times are going to come. We have so many veteran guys; they just help you find a way when you're going through tough times. We just had to grow as a team."

There was even a level of gratitude for the Hornets and their role in forcing the Heat to grind through the grueling series. At one stage midway through the series, it seemed everything was in flux for the Heat -- from Spoelstra's rotation and adjustments to Miami's collective confidence.

At times, the Heat played every bit like a team that was relying too heavily -- and perhaps recklessly -- on rookies and postseason neophytes Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson and Hassan Whiteside. Then in others, they were steadied and buoyed by the veteran-savvy experience of Wade, Deng, Joe Johnson and Udonis Haslem. Ultimately, it proved to be a series of ligament strains and growing pains.

"We needed it," said Whiteside, whose 24 blocked shots over the seven games set a single-series franchise record. "I really think it gave us a better focus going into the second round. I remember how guys felt after we lost Game 5 [in Miami]. Guys were down, and I told them, 'Hey, we're going to go and steal one in Charlotte.' "

The Heat did. And Whiteside boldly proclaimed afterward: "They don't want to come back to Miami."

As the Heat got ready for Game 7, there were no major locker room speeches. The quick turnaround from staving off elimination late Friday night to closing out the series on Sunday didn't leave much time for anything other than treatment and personal reflections.

So after pregame warmups, Wade took his spot in line alongside teammates for the anthem with a season's worth of triumphs and staggering challenges flashing in his mind.

"I'm not a prophet or anything, but I knew we were winning this game," Wade said. "I was just thinking about [my teammates] and how they were going to feel afterward when they get a chance to experience this ... to pull it out in Game 7. That shows a lot about you. When you get your opportunities, you have to seize them. You can't let go. We've continued to do that all season. Every time it looked like that door was about to close, we somehow, some way ... pushed through it and pushed forward."

First, Wade had to push aside that bead of sweat running down his cheek.