It's over.
The Champs have fallen.
The Miami Heat's season is over.
Last year's NBA Champs have been swept by the Chicago Bulls. The team that gave Miami the most trouble in the playoffs last year, and the team that blew the doors off the Heat in the first game of the season, is the same team that dominated the Heat from the beginning of Game 1 until the last second of Game 4.
Somehow I knew I would be writing this blog two weeks ago when the Bulls lost to the Nets and became the Heat's first round opponent. With a dinged up D-Wade, old Shaq and no back-up point guard, I knew the Heat had no chance.
Miami's downfall would be turnovers, free throw shooting and the inability to find the right starting lineup to match up with the steady Bulls.
Turnovers: You can thank Wade and Shaq. 37 in four games between the two of them.
Free throws: Once again, Wade and Shaq, you can throw Zo into the mix too. I'm not going to figure it out for all the games, but in Game 3 the Heat were 16-35, and in Game 4, Shaq was 0-7.
Starting lineup: Riley. Four games, four different lineups.
The Bulls are a solid team. They out husseled Miami, and killed them on the boards. They played great defense, and made shots when they needed to.
Still, Miami should have won this series just like they did last year. The problem for the Heat this year was they relied on D-Wade and Shaq too much. Jwil, Haslem and Posey/Kapono/Jones were completely removed the offense. When they did get shot opportunities, they were bailing out Wade or Shaq with the shot clock winding down. Riley rarely ran plays for Haslem, and ran even less for Jwil. Forcing the ball to Shaq and having Wade handle the ball instead of Jwil or even Payton, lead to all of those turnovers. Riley should have limited Wade's ball handling, especially if he's still hurt. Instead, he increased it. Not smart.
The free throw shooting was a joke for Miami. Shaq says he makes them when they count. Please. He never makes them, and last time I checked, THEY ALL COUNT! Wade got into the act in Game 3 by shooting only 40% from the line. There are no excuses for a team to be this bad from the line, especially from the two "superstars" on the team.
Riley takes a hit for the way he coached the Heat into this playoff disaster. He had Miami playing tight from the beginning of Game 1. The Heat had a lot of pressure on them coming into the series, and I doubt Riley did anything to eliviate any of that pressure. He probably added to it. Switching the lineup every game didn't help. Guys don't know their roll when the starting lineup represents a carousel, players start pressing and can't make a shot.
I really don't know yet how I feel about this season. It's still too early. Obviously, I'm disappointed. Injuries played a big part in this year's quick ending, but I'm not sure how much different things would have turned out. I do think Miami's season does prove one thing, you can't sleepwalk through the regular season, and then just turn it on in the playoffs. That definitely hurt them in the end.
The Miami Heat getting knocked out in the first round this year, once again makes me realize just how difficult repeating is in professional sports. It takes such a special team to win a championship, doing it two or more years in a row is close to impossible.
I'm still pretty pissed about this game, and it's a day later. Normally, I get over games the minute they end. I don't live and die with my teams like some fans do. I have more important things going on in my life than to worry about what happened in some stupid game played by million dollar athletes. There have only been two sporting events that have prevented me from sleeping; Roy Jones Jr. getting knocked out in the second round by Antonio Tarver, and Game 1 of Memphis Grizzlies vs. San Antonio Spurs 2004 playoff series. Yeah, I'm sure that one kept you guys up too....
I didn't have a problem falling asleep last night, but after the game I was pretty upset. It's very annoying when you know more about a game than the head coach of the team you are rooting for. Yankee fans know what I'm talking about. Pat Riley blew that game yesterday when he convinced himself that the Heat couldn't win without Dwyane Wade and Shaq. Despite the fact that they actually played better without those two ballhogs.
Now don't get me wrong. I don't think the Heat are a better team with out their two superstars. I know they need them just as much as any team in the NBA needs its go-to guys. But yesterday, Shaq and Wade were turnover machines, and when they weren't turning the ball over they were picking up stupid fouls. Now Shaq and Wade will tell you that the Bulls had help from the officials, but seriously, how often have you seen Shaq try to take a charge, much less two in one game? Not smart.
Wade was no better. Riley has this idea that when Jwil is on the bench, Wade can play the point. The main reason for this is that Gary Payton has completely collapsed as a back-up point guard. Honestly, as bad as the Mitten is, he takes better care of the ball than Wade. D-Wade turned the ball over five times, constantly making bad decisions. Getting caught up in the air, making cross court passes, losing his dribble, it was frustrating. Meanwhile, Jwil had only one turnover, and it was on an alley-oop pass to Wade who couldn't get off the ground to get to it.
The turning point of this game was in the middle of the fourth quater when both Wade and Shaq went to the bench with five fouls each and the Heat down by 11. Finally, the Heat's other players were allowed to play together, and were not forced to get the ball to their two superstars. They rallyed and went on a 8-2 run, closing the gap and making it once again a game.
Once the "other" guys got the game close, Riley put Shaq and Wade back in the game. Almost immeditatly, Wade put up an aweful, forced shot, missed and the Bulls went down the court and scored. On the next Bulls possession, Shaq fouled out. The place went crazy, and the Heat's ship had sunk. Miami would get within three, but instead of drawing up a play for the three-point shooters on the team, like Jwil, Posey, Walker (yes, I said Walkler) or Jones, Riley gives the ball to Wade and asks him to jack up a three. It was a brick.
If the Heat want to have a chance in this series, they have to get the other players involved. I'm talking about the Jwil's, the Posey's, the Kapono's. Those guys. Stop force feeding Shaq. Stop giving Wade all the freedom in the world. And start playing like a team.
The Miami Heat got blown out on the road tonight, forcing me to channel surf when they emptied the bench in the middle of the third quarter. They lost to the Charlotte Bobcats, 92-82.
How bad were the Heat? Walker lead them in scoring (17 points) and rebounds (9).
The Heat have completely quit on the season, and are just resting up for the playoffs. Tonight Shaq, Payton and Haslem sat out the game. It was Haslem's first game missed all season. He had been the only starter to play in every game this year.
Wade started in this one, but he was still rusty as hell. He had four turnovers. Between Jwil, Wade and Walker, they combined for 11 turnovers. Not really playoff type numbers. If the Heat are going to continue to play like this, I might stop covering the games until the playoffs start. I'm not here to waste time.
Tomorrow the Heat take on the Washington Wizards. It was supposed to be a big game, but Washington is playing terribly right now. They miss Agent Zero and fell to the Nets tonight. You know you're bad when you lose to the Nets. I can't wait for them to go to Brooklyn.
On a side note, James Posey got arrested Monday night and charged with a DUI. He claims he's innocent. Riley said he won't take any action against Posey until he finds out all the facts. I doubt that Riley will suspend Posey for any games during the playoffs, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Stay tuned.
Dwyane Wade returned from his shoulder injury, but he tried to do too much against the Bobcats and it wound up costing Miami the victory.
I only caught the second half of this game, so I wasn't as into it as I usually am. It was Easter, after all.
Miami trailed at halftime, 57-47. Charlotte opened the third quarter with a quick 6-0 run, causing the Heat to call a time out after 1:20 into the quarter. Miami got their act together, and after a Posey three, the lead was back to ten.
Things stayed that way for much of the third and fourth quarters. In the fourth, the line up of Wade, Payton, Kapono, Mourning and Walker got the Heat back in the game. With four minutes to play, they tied the score.
The Bobcats didn't run away and hide. They sacked up, and took whatever the Heat could give them. They played tough, and with less than three seconds left in the game, Gerald Wallace put his head down and drove to the rim. He forced up a shot that didn't count because time had expired. The two teams went into overtime.
In overtime, the Heat ran everything through D-Wade. Wade was tired by now, but had his confidence back that he lacked in the first couple of quarters. He hit a couple of jumpers, but also took some bad, forced shots. He was also horrible from the line, going 6-12. He finished with 12 points, eight assists and six turnovers.
The Heat were done in by some guy named Walter Herrmann. Who? Exactly. This guy drained three, three's in OT. I think they were in a row, too.
That was all she wrote for the Heat. Hopefully they'll get payback on Tuesday night when they play the Bobcats again in Charlotte.
Because in games like these, the Heat really need him.
I'm writing this as the Heat and Cavs play into overtime, and despite whatever the outcome is the Heat miss Dwyane Wade bigtime in games against good teams. They miss his ability to take the final shot, and his knack for getting to the line.
Miami squeaked out a win 94-90, and that's what matters, but once again they gave up their lead late and allowed Cleveland back into the game, then they were able to force overtime. Good defense, by of all people Jason Williams, and clutch free throw shooting, also by Jwil, gave Miami the win.
Williams had a horrible game. If it wasn't for his steal of a LeBron James pass late in OT, and his shots from the line, he wouldn't have even been mentioned in this blog entry. He was 1-8, for five points and only three assists. Pretty weak.
The real star for Miami was Number 8! That's right, Antoine Walker! This guy comes into the game shooting 26% from three. Horrible. So what does he do? He goes 6-8 from behind the arc, and finishes with 20 points and six rebounds. Gary Payton, the Mitten, also had a solid game. Four points, four rebounds and eight dimes in only 21 minutes. Overall, Miami's bench came up huge, and really helped the Heat keep their lead throughout the game.
The Cleveland Cavs came out dragging verses Miami and found themselves in the hole early. Shaq dominated the first half, quickly getting the Cleveland bigs in foul trouble. Miami controlled the tempo for most of the game, but in the fourth quarter, LeBron made some big shots and big passes. He finished with 35 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Impressive, but not enough for the win.
Don't blame Drew Gooden for the loss. It wasn't his fault. That guy is a monster. He was good for 14 points and 14 rebounds. Good thing Memphis traded him a couple of years ago. Someone should check Jerry West's pulse.
Miami is now a game and a half in front of Washington in the Southeast Division, and with Agent Zero going down with a knee injury, I don't see that lead getting any smaller. The Heat are currently the number four seed, a game behind the Raptors. The next couple of games are on the road, including tomorrow night's trap game against the Celtics. Hopefully, Miami can side step that landmine, and continue to prepare for the playoffs.
It was a big game, a "must win" according to Heat coach Pat Riley, and the Miami Heat held off the Toronto Raptors for a 92-89 victory. With the victory and Washington loss (122-102 to the Bobcats), Miami is now in first place and owns the tie breaker against the Raptors. So if the Raptors finish with the same record as the Heat, the Heat will get the higher seeding. This could be huge because chances are the Heat will be playing for the third seed, and if they lost tonight they would have wound up playing on the road in the first round of the playoffs, and possibly a second round match up with the Detroit Pistons. That still might happen, but hopefully the Heat can win enough games to stay right where they are.
Heat fans can thank James Pocket Fulla' Posey for this victory. The guy only had six points (four from the charity stripe), but his 13 rebounds were huge and his free throws were clutch. He sealed the game for Miami.
The Heat came out like gangbusters and nailed nine of their first ten shots, but weak defense kept the Raptors right on their heals. Jwil was hot, slicing and dicing his way to the rim for easy baskets and hitting a couple of early 3's. He had 12 at halftime, but for the second straight game stopped shooting the ball in the second half. He only had two points in the second half.
The Raptors were cleaning up on the glass all game, but really turned it on in the second half. Chris Bosh and Rasho Nesterovic had 20 rebounds between them and eight of them were offensive. Toronto started getting Shaq involved in pick-and-rolls and it was killing Miami. With Shaq out trying to guard T.J. Ford the Raptor's bigs were able to roam free under the rim for short jumpers and lay ins. It's nice to know that after being in the league 100 years, Shaq still doesn't know how to defend the pick-and-roll.
Toronto got close in the final minutes of the game, but the Heat and Posey held them off. Both teams had several oppertunities to give themselves some breathing room, but were unable to get a shot or in Miami's case, get a shot attempt. They turned the ball over a ton of times.
Thank God for Posey. Good thing Memphis traded him and Jwil for Eddie Jones two year ago. Now that Jones is on Miami, after Memphis bought out the final year of his contract, that trade makes even more sense.
Pat Riley wasted Jwil's 20+ point effort, and cost Miami a victory today in Detroit where they lost 94-88. There aren't many games you can blame a coach on during the season (unless we are talking Yankee baseball), but this one is squarely on Slick's head.
The Heat led most of the way in this one. In the first half, Miami was killing the Pistons on boards and in the paint. Their defense was stout, too. They held the Pistons to 13 points in the first quarter. The starters for Miami opened up a ten point lead in the second quarter, but the reserves came in and Pistons went on a 16 to 2 run to close the gap. You can thank Gary Payton and Antoine Walker for that. By halftime, Miami had a 46-41 advantage.
Jason Williams and Shaq both had 13 points for the Heat at the half. Jwil was having his way for the second straight game against Chauncey Billups. He was blowing by the Detroit guard at will, and finishing at the rim. Jwil was dominating Billups so badly that they switched him off Williams and had Rip Hamilton guard him. At the other end of the court, Williams was playing solid D on Billups. Mr. Big Shot finished with 17 points, five rebounds and three turnovers. Jwil finished with 21 points on 7 for 9 shooting and three assists.
As the game went on, the game got closer. Late in fourth quarter, the Pistons tied the game and then took the lead thanks to some Miami turnovers because Payton, Walker, Posey and Jones can't handle a full-court press.
Why wasn't Jwil bringing the ball up the court, you ask. Ask Riley.
For some reason, Jwil was sitting on the bench. After the second turnover, Slick put Jwil back in the game, where he was quickly pressured and turned the ball over on a questionable offensive foul call.
The three TO's weren't pretty, and cost the Heat the lead and probably the win, but the game wasn't over yet. The Heat kept it close, but wasted too many possessions dumping the ball down to Shaq. Meanwhile, Jwil didn't attempt a shot.
Questionable play calling? Wait to you hear this.
With the Heat down four with 30+ seconds left, the Heat call a timeout so that Riley can draw up a play. The Heat didn't need a three, a quick two would have been fine. The Heat come out of the timeout and the play that Pat Riley calls is for WALKER!! Are you kidding me? Walker gets the ball, fakes a three, than jacks one up. It's a horrible shot that's not even close. The long rebound finds Walker again. He tries to jack up another tippy-toe-three, but steps out of bounds, resulting in a turnover. With the Heat down six, and about six seconds left in the game Walker was able to turn the ball over one more time.
Game over.
The Miami Heat are back in first place in the Southwest division thanks to a clutch win in Minnesota, and a choke job in Washington.
The Heat played a focused game against the fading Timberwolves, and came away with a 92-77 victory. Miami was in desperate need of a road win that didn't take place in Atlanta, and the Wolves were happy to provide one.
Defense and fast break baskets were what enabled the Heat to lead in this one almost the entire way. The Heat players combined for eight steals (Posey, Jones and Williams all had two). Every steal seemed to lead to a Posey layup and Jwil assist. Shaq was very active on the defensive end of the floor. He altered several shots and had two blocks on the night. It's nice to see the Big Man move his size 22's on D, and not be afraid to pick up a foul. Too many times in recent games O'Neal has been careful on defense, and it has lead to easy baskets for the other team.
All five starters for Miami finished with double figures. Udonis Haslem lead the team with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Jwil also finished with a double-double, 15 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds. He had four turnovers, but to his defense none of them were his fault. They all should have been assists.
The Heat are now in first place by half of a game because of the 123-118 loss by the Wizards to the Raptors. This was a game the Wiz had in the bag, but with four seconds left, Mo Peterson nailed a 30+ footer to tie the game at the buzzer forcing overtime where the Wiz caved.
Sunday at noon, Pistons vs. Heat on national television. Pretty much a must win for the Heat, who really need to win every game from here on in to ensure a home court advantage in the playoffs. The Pistons are coming off of a close game against the Nets where they squeeked out a win 110-105. The last time the Pistons and Heat met Miami came away with a home victory. Detroit chose to cover Shaq one-on-one and got burned because of it. It will be interesting to see if they use the same tactic.
My prediction, Heat in a blow out, 100-75.
Tonight in Miami the Heat bounced back from two devastating losses to the Pacers and Sixers, and got a win against the Atlanta Hawks 106-89.
It was a pretty easy win. The Hawks were competitive, but never in control of the game. Josh Smith had 20 points, but on 6 for 15 shooting. He had a couple of sweet dunks on fast breaks, but the Heat played some good D, unlike against the Sixers, and were able to limit Atlanta's fast break baskets.
It was a balanced attack for Miami. The Heat had four players in double figures. Shaq lead the way with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Pocket Fulla Posey had a nice game with 19 points and three steals. Jason Williams controlled the game and tempo for the Heat. He took care of the ball, unlike against the Sixers, and only had one turnover on five assists and 14 points.
The Heat really righted the ship tonight. They only took 13 3's, they got to the foul line 45 times and they scored countless points in the paint. Jwil stopped settling for bad 3's, and took the ball to rim for either the easy score or a dish to a cutting Posey/Jones. Shaq had good position all night in the post, and the Heat were going to him as much as possible. If there wasn't anything there right away, Shaq would make the pass out and then repost. The Heat players were dumping the ball back into him or making good decisions and not just jacking up shots.
The Heat will step up in competition on Wednesday when they take on the Toronto Raptors. A win against Toronto would put the Heat ahead of the Raptors in the playoff standings. If the Wizards lose tonight in Utah, the Heat will be ahalf of a game in first place in their division. It possible with a Wizards loss tonight, and a Heat win on Wednesday, that the Heat will be the third playoff seed with home court in the first round. Heat fans, we can only hope.
For a recap of tonight's brutal loss please go to depressedfan.com. I haven't read Brian's post yet, but what ever he says is 100% true. This was one of the worst losses for the Heat this year.
Every now and then every team in the NBA is going to have a game like this one. One where nothing works, offensively or defensively, and the other team comes out making every shot, dominating the glass and getting all the calls.
Unfortunately, the Heat wound up on the short end of the stick in tonight's game. I could have started this blog with four minutes left in the first quarter when the Heat were already down by 20 points. They finished the quarter with a total of nine points. Ouch.
The Indiana Pacers rocked the Heat for 48 minutes. Mike Dunleavy took it to Miami early and often. He finished with 20 points. He was hitting 3's, dunking, setting up guys for easy layups, basically the Heat's defense made him look like Larry Bird.
The Heat's offensive wasn't any better than their D. Jwil jacked a bunch of bad 3's, and turned the ball over three times. Eddie Jones and James Posey combined for 10 points on 4 for 13 shooting. Shaq lead the team with 13 points. How weak is that?
Pat Riley tried to shake up the line up early by plugging Dorrel Wright, Payton and Walker. It didn't work. No. 8 had four points in 20 minutes, on 0-8 shooting. Enough said.
I'm really not too upset about this loss. These things happen. What can't happen is for this team to make a habit of not showing up for games. Saturday night they take on the Sixers, who we all know blow. They can't afford a loss tomorrow night, not only because the 69ers' are an abortion of a team, but because Brian over at depressedfan.com will never let me live it down.
It's been almost a week since my last post and I have been getting thousands of emails wondering "what's up." Here is just a sample of some of the emails.
Yo B, where you been? What's up with the Heat? You still watchin'? -Jerome in Newark, NJ
Hey, I love the blog, but where has it been? You're starting to post as infrequently as that guy at greenpinstripes.com. By the way, are you ever going to talk hockey because I think the Devils have a good shot at the cup. -PJ in my parents' basement
Dude, your blog rules! Go Heat! Did you see Jwil win it for the Heat against the Hawks? Please do some more entries because I can't deal with those other losers at blogsbyfans.com. Some of those guys need to get a life! -J.H. Christ
Easy guys, I've been here and I've been watching. I did see both games over the weekend, I just decided to take a couple of days off to recharge the batteries.
Last night's game is a different story. Starting last week, I will not be posting on Wednesday night games anymore for the remainder of the season. I have started playing basketball again in Jersey City on Wednesday nights, so since I don't have TiVo and I refuse to post on games that I didn't actually watch, I will not be posting on the games. The good news is that there are only three games left in the regular season on Wednesdays.
Once the playoffs start, and the Heat are sitting pretty in the second seed, I will be sacrificing my health and jump shot to report on the Heat's romp towards another championship.
So keep you're shirts on kids, and don't be so hard on my co-workers at blogsbyfans.com. And no PJ, there will never be any hockey talk on this blog or (hopefully) any other blog on BBF.com. Go back to Russia!
The Miami Heat came to my home state of New Jersey and did in the Nets 93-86 to win their eighth game in a row. I would have been at the game if my wife and I didn't owe New Jersey over $700 in taxes (don't even ask how much we owe federal, we have our company to thank for that). Did you know that there is no state tax in Florida? So anyway, I have no money so I wasn't able to go to the swamp, and had to watch the TNT broadcast from home. At least it was in HD. Doesn't Nets coach Lawrence Frank look like Charlie Brown? He should be fired. The game was very competitive, but controlled by Miami. Even when the Nets had the lead, you knew the Heat were going to come back. Miami found themselves trialing at halftime 45-43. They busted through the door in third quarter, outscoring NJ 25-15. After taking a ten point lead, Miami used their defense to lock the Nets down and control the game until the final buzzer. How good was the Heat's defense? In the last 25 minutes of the game, Vince Carter scored one point. Udonis Haslem had the game of his life. New Jersey was so busy worring about how to guard Shaq that they completely forgot about Haslem. He was a one man wrecking crew, going for 21 points and 12 rebounds. Jason Willams also had a great game for the Heat. He outplayed the over-rated wife beater Jason Kidd. Jwil had 13 points, 12 asissts, 5 rebounds and zero turnovers. A quick look at Jason Kidd's stats might make you think he had a good game (10 rebounds, 14 assists and 8 points). But in reality, you can make the argument that he cost New Jersey the game. First of all, Kidd had three turnovers. All of which came when the Nets were on a run. All three TO's shifted the momentum back to the Heat. Also, with about a minute left and the Nets down only four, Kidd had a wide (and I mean w-i-d-e), open look at three. He put up an airball. The Sacromento Queens are next for Miami tomorrow night. I'm offically worried about this game. The Heat have to fly back to Miami tonight in the rain and possible snow storm, then get ready for team that has lost four in row. Back-to-back's are never easy in the NBA especially when you have to travel between them. Even if the win streak comes to end tomorrow night, the Heat have made up a lot of ground in the last two weeks and are now a serious contender in the East.
If you don't like it, you must love because right now the Miami Heat are the best team in the NBA. Forget about that Euro in Dallas, and the Suns have never won a thing. Spurs? Psssst. Please. The NBA Championship runs through Miami. Believe it! The Utah Jazz found that out the hard way. It takes more than being up by 17 points in the third to finish off this Heat team. The Jazz got punched in the mouth to the tune of 88-86. That's seven straight wins, and 13 in a row at home. Do you think the Wizards hear Miami knocking at the door? They are about to kick it in! The game started off slow for the Heat. Shaq quickly got in foul trouble along with James Posey. Coach Riley had to go to the bench early and that affected the offense. Jwil was the only starter holding his own. He kept the Heat above water for three quarters, and finished with a team high 15 points. Utah looked like they were in Miami to make a statement. They came out and dominated Miami on both ends of the floor. I think Carlos Boozer had 42 lay ups. Mehmet Okur hit 78 3's. They were icing the Heat. Slapping balls away from Miami's bigs, out rebounding the world and shooting at an impressive percent. This just in, Number 8 still makes baskets! That's right, good ole' Antoine Walker showed up and basically won this game for Miami. He scored all of his 13 point in the fourth quarter where Miami outscored Utah 28-12. Walker was making steals, dishing dimes, draining tre's (well, at least one of them) and taking it strong to the rim. Props to him. It's nice of the former all-star to make his first appearence 63 games into the season. The Heat will take it. Every night it's someone new stepping up to the plate and getting the game winning hit. Hey New Jersey! You're next! Net fans get ready to have your arena sold out for the first time all year. You're welcome.
The Miami Heat haters are really grasping at straws nowadays. It's hard to talk trash about the NBA Champs when they have won six games in a row, and 12 straight at home.
Their latest win came against the team they are chasing the Washington Wizards. The Heat sqeeked out a win 106-104. The win almost didn't happen, thanks to Gary Payton.
Early in the game, the Glove, was the Heat's best player. He scored 14 points in the first half. The second half the Glove went back to being the Mitten. He was held to three points, and with the game on the line he missed two free throws that would have sealed the game for the Heat.
The Wizards got the ball back with six seconds left on the clock. Antawn Jamison was called for an offensive foul. So the Heat got the ball back, and Payton seemed to be off the hook.
The Wiz fouled immediately. Jwil went to the line where he made one of two. With the Wizards down three, the only shot they had was going to be a three point attempt. All the Heat players had to do was challenge the shot, but most importantly, don't foul.
What does Payton do? He fouls Gilbert Arenas as he jacks up a three point prayer.
I almost shat my pants.
Arenas made all three free throw attempts. With the game tied at 104-104, Miami had three seconds left on the clock for a shot attempt. To the shock of everyone, Pat Riley drew up a play for Udonis Haslem. Jwil passed the ball in to U, he faked right, then dribbled left and hit a fade away jumper in the paint for the win.
You're a lucky man Mitten! This one would have been on you!
The win puts the Heat only one game behind the Southeast Division leading Wizards. They are playing their best basketball without their best player. All the guys have stepped up and made contributions. So by this time next week, the Heat will back on top, dominating, resting up for another run at the championship.
So for the haters out there, sorry guys. Maybe next year.
It's March. The NBA season is almost over, and the Miami Heat have officially flipped the switch. It took them long enough, but as long as they win the division no one will remember how long it took them to get to .500.
.500 is now a distant memory. Sure the Heat are only two games above the average mark, but believe, trust me, this team is anything but average. When the season ends, and the Heat are the second playoff seed (just like last year), the Eastern Conference is going to be shaking in their proverbial boots.
One of those Eastern Conference teams just got smoked in Miami. The Chicago Bulls got slaughtered 103-70. The main killers were Shaq (24 points, 9 rebounds and 8 dimes), and Old Man Eddie Jones (23 points, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks). Who knew Eddie still had it in him! He has been more than anyone could have expected since the Heat signed him a couple of weeks ago. The crowd loves this guy. He gets an "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie" chant every time he drills a three.
Miami clamped down on "D" holding the Bulls to only 27 second half points. Oh, and James Posey drew six offensive charges, if you need him. Zo had four blocks in only 11 minutes of playing time. Everyone was getting into the act. Jwil had two steals to go along with seven assists and five points. Even Walker showed some defense with two blocks. His 10 boards, 14 points and five assists weren't bad either.
Basically, the entire league is in serious trouble. If the Heat are going to play this well without their best player, just think about how deadly they are going to be when he returns. I can name about 15 teams who don't want to think about that right now.
For the first time since November, the Miami Heat have a winning record.
That's pretty pathetic.
But that's the way it has been for the NBA Champs. Injuries, lack of focus and uninspired play prevented Miami from looking anything like a championship team. Just when things started to turn for Heat, their best player, their "Superman", D-Wade went down with a dislocated shoulder. To some scribes and bloggers, the season was over. Finished.
The Heat had different ideas. Instead of packing it in, they decided to step up. Particularly, Shaq. He's looking more like the Shaq from the Lakers. The Shaq who won three championships. Not the 35-year-old Shaq who looks soft, fat and old. He's gone back to his ghetto game, and just at the right time.
Miami defeated the Atlanta Hawks, 88-81. The Heat were led by Eddie Jones, who had his coming out party since rejoining Miami a couple of weeks ago. He finished with 21 points, 4 for 7 from downtown. Shaq had another soild game, 14 points and 9 boards. On a side note, the Heat sustained another injury. This time it was Jason Kapono who suffered a high ankle sprain. Dorell Wright will be filling in for Kapono until he returns.
The win puts Miami (30-29) in the sixth playoff spot, and only 3 1/2 games out of first place in the Southeast Conference. The Heat are making their playoff push at the perfect time. The league is ripe for the taking. They have a favorable schedule with a ton of home games. Wade has decided to delay sugery, and is hoping to be back in a couple of weeks for the playoffs. If he is able to get anywhere near what he was before the injury, the Heat will be the team to beat all the way through the playoffs for the East.
Memo to sport hacks who hate Pat Riley, and Brian at delusionalfan.com: Not only are the Miami Heat going to be in the playoffs, they are going to win the Southeast Division. Who is going to stop them? The Wizards? The Magic? Please. Miami went to D.C. had lunch with the Prez, and then punched the Southeast Division leaders in the mouth, hand cuffing them to 83 points (22 points below their average) and holding Agent Zero to only 15 points (0 for 8 from 3). Jwil and Shaq led the Heat with 23 points each as Miami took it to Washington on offense and denied them on defense. The three-headed monster of Posey, Payton and Jones did a great job of frustrating Gilbert Arenas and forcing him into bad shots. Udonis Haslem came back from the dead to put up an impressive double/double, 12 points, 16 rebounds (7 were offensive). All in all, an excellent team effort. The Heat are currently in second place in the Southeast, and are only 3 1/2 games out of first. With the next five games at home (one of those against Washington), and the majority of the remaining games against sub-.500 teams, Miami is in excellent position to take back what's theirs. First place.
The Miami Heat traveled north to face the playoff hungry New York Knicks, and after a knock em' down, drag em' out game, the Knicks came out victorious with a 99-93 win. I was there along with Brian from depressedfan.com, in Section 344, Row E, which by the way, are great seats. Our pregame warm ups were just as impressive as the game itself. Combined we put away three foot-long hot dogs, one 24 oz Coke, one 32 oz Coke, two jumbo hot pretzels and one large bucket of French fries from Ranch 1. Now that's how you get ready for a Knicks/Heat game!!!! The first three quarters were a complete yawn. For the most part, the Knicks led. Jwil was keeping the Heat in the game with 3's, he finished with 15 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds. In the fourth, the Heat regained the lead led by Jason Kapono, who once again struggled in the first half. He hit some 3's, but did most of his damage with 12-foot jumpers. He finished with 24, but had three turnovers, all were costly and all led to points for the Knicks. Eddy Curry was taking it to Miami the entire game. Even Brian was impressed with his double/double. He finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds. The Heat couldn't stop him, and he lived at the line. Actually, the Knicks entire team lived at the line. They were 30-39, compared to Miami's 5-8. In the fourth, Starbury woke up and blew up the Heat. The Garden came alive with every basket he made. He hit some big 3's, scored on a couple of three-point plays and drove to the hole for easy lay-ups around Shaq's old, big body. Steph finished with 25. In the end, he and Crawford were too much for the Heat and the Knicks came away with the win. The Heat lost this game because of two things; they didn't finish at the end of quarters, and the Knicks proficiency from behind the arch. In both the first and second quarters, New York ended the quarter with an unanswered three. That's the difference in the game.
King James and his Cleveland Cavilers came to Miami and got dethroned 86-81. Miami stepped up its defense and controlled the tempo from the opening tip to the last inbounds pass of the game. The new look Heat were impressive and made fans believe that the season is not over. Pat Riley says that since Dwyane Wade is out with a dislocated shoulder, Miami has to become more of a defensive team. That's exactly what they were against the Cavs. They held them to only 38 points in the first half. They completely shut the Cavs bench down, and held Le Bron to only 29 points. The Wade-less Heat were methodical and deliberate on offensive. Walk the ball up the court, throw it into Shaq, if no double team comes, Shaq dribbles twice and puts up a shot. If the double comes, Shaq throws it out to the perimeter and the ball gets passed around until a open shooter is found. It's very boring to watch, but get used to it because that's how the rest of the season is going to be until Wade gets back. Through three quarters, Shaq was the only Heat player scoring consistently. Finally, in the fourth, other players started to contribute. Gary Payton and Walker chipped in with some nice assists, Alonzo Mourning had 15 points and Pocket Fulla Posey had some key baskets. Jason Kapono, who did his best impression of me through the first three quarters, going 1-11, started to hit some shots in the fourth. He hit a couple of deep jumpers and then nailed a deep three in the corner. He finished with 17 points. Tomorrow the Heat will be in New York to face the Knicks. I will be there, live and in person along with BBF owner and president, Brian. You know, for someone who hates the Knicks, Brian sure attends a lot of their games. This will be his second of the year. If anyone is interested, we will be signing autographs for 30 minutes before the game in front of Section 349.
A tired and wounded Miami Heat team limped into Dallas without Dwayne Wade, who was back in Miami considering options on his dislocated shoulder. They had to face the team they eliminated in the NBA Finals last year, the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs took the floor with a chip on their shoulders' and revenge on their minds. They got their revenge to the tune of 112-100. The Mavs have the best record in the league at 45-9, and when they took the floor against Miami they looked like the best team in the NBA. Both teams had a lot of energy in the first quarter, but in the second, Dallas blitzkrieged the Heat. They outscored Miami 39-21. Miami trailed at half time 65-42. It's the second night in a row the Heat allowed an opponent to score in the 60's in the first half. The Heat struggled to score without D-Wade. They dumped the ball into Shaq on almost every possession. Shaq did what he could, but he's still not in shape. He often fumbled the ball and settled for lay-up attempts instead of going to his ghetto game and dunking everything within five feet of the rim. He was active again though, for the second night in a row. He finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Jason Williams was back in the starting line up for the first time in weeks. He looked good running the team, but the Heat looked confused on offense. It's obvious they need a couple of practices to figure out how they are going to play without Wade. Williams finished with 13 points and four assists. A big problem for Miami in these last two games is the play from the power forward position. Udonis Haslem and Antoine Walker have given them nothing. Haslem had some points in garbage time, turned the ball over several times and missed several easy baskets. Walker was ejected late in the third quarter for a hard foul on Dirk Nowitzki. Walker finished with two points. The Heat will take on the Cavs on Sunday. Between now and then, they need to figure out where they are going to go on offense. Shaq's the number one option, but when he's doubled or not hitting his shots the Heat need to identify a second scorer. Their best options are either Kapono or Jwil. Both players need to take advantage of this opportunity, and show the league what they are capable of.
For the first time all year, the Miami Heat finally had their entire team dressed and ready to play. With about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets, Miami went right back to being down a man. This time it was Dwyane Wade. This time it's serious. Pat Riley made his return to the team after missing several weeks with hip and knee operations. The Heat came into the game with a .500 record and seemingly had momentum in their favor. Miami started the game slowly and their defense was non-existent. The Rockets came out looking more like the Suns. Everyone was getting in the act for the Rockets and they jumped out to a quick lead. Too much D-Wade in the first half for the Heat. He was 5-15 and turning the ball over every time he touched it. Udonis was absolutely invisible in the first half along with Kapono. Tracy McGrady started hot hitting his first four shots, but pulled his groin in the first quarter and left the game for a couple of minutes. He came back and continued to be effective. He finished with 32 points. Rockets led 63-48 at halftime. In the third, the Heat showed more defensive intensity. Wade was more under control and made some fantastic three point plays. There is no one better in the game at drawing the foul and making the basket. The Heat started the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run cutting the deficit to nine, 89-80. Wade was starting to take over the game. He was feeling it. With about nine minutes left in the game, Wade reached in on Shane Battier trying to strip the ball and got his arm jammed. He doubled over in pain holding his left arm. He went to the bench and the training staff went to work on him. If you have seen enough Heat games, you know that Wade does this type of thing often. It's an act. He uses the opportunity to catch his breath and make the refs think that he's getting killed on floor. I thought Wade was faking it. The cameras showed Wade grimacing in pain and sitting on the bench not moving his arm. Then they got out the wheelchair. It was obvious that Wade was really hurt. Wade had X-rays taken at the Houston arena on his shoulder and they were inconclusive. So he was placed on a stretcher and taken to a local Houston hospital for more X-rays and diagnosis. He will not travel with the team to Dallas tonight. He is reported to have a dislocated shoulder. The diagnosis for the Heat is not good. Without Wade, they are going to be in serious trouble. They will still make the playoffs, but in order for them to even get out of the first round, they are going to need him.
I'm going to keep this short and sweet, and I'm not going to give any lame predictions like who's going to win the Sixth Man award. The Heat will repeat. Knicks will make the playoffs. (I have said it all year.) Sixers will get fifth pick in the draft. What else matters? Everything else is pretty straight forward. I can't wait to do the baseball predictions!
Miami Heat representing at the All-Star Weekend!!! The night started in Las Vegas with Dwyane Wade winning the Skills Competition. He beat out Kobe Bryant, who couldn't make a chest pass. I guess maybe he should have went to college to learn the basics of the game instead of going right into the NBA. King James and Chris Paul didn't even try in the competition and were knocked out in the first round. Wade is the first player to ever repeat in the Skills Competition. Jason Kapono won the 3-Point Shootout contest, tying a record set by Mark Price with 24 points in the final round. He beat out the other two qualifiers Gilbert Arenas and Dirk Nowitzki. Kapono shot first in both rounds of the contest. In the first round, he scored a strong 19 points. It put a lot of pressure on the other guys. Damon Jones, Mike Miller and Jason Terry quickly choked, falling far out of the competition. Gilbert Arenas went "hibachi" and lit up the basket and crowd with 21 points. Nowitizki followed with a score of 20. Kapono started again in the second round and was just killing it! He made 16 of his last 18 baskets. When his score of 24 was announced, Arenas and Dirk knew it was over. Dirk made a feeble attempt and finished with 10. After two racks, Arenas knew it was over and on his final rack, he started shooting one-handed. Both Kapono and Wade won $35,000 for their efforts. Money well earned.
Thank goodness the All-Star break is here. I need it... It's a big day in Miami. Not only did they finally reach the .500 mark, but also Pat Riley announced earlier today that he will be back as head coach after All-Star Weekend. The Heat put a show on in Miami tonight. It opened and closed with D-Wade dominating the first and fourth quarters. Flash led all scorers with 35 points. Defense also starred in the 104-85 victory over the Portland Trailblazers. The Heat set a season high record with 14 blocks. Shaq had five, Zo had four and Flash had three. The game wasn't a complete blowout. Give the Trailblazers credit. They played a very competitive game. The first three quarters were very close, but the Heat pulled away in the fourth and outscored the Blazers 31-15. The game opened with Wade picking up where he left off on Sunday against the Spurs. He came out firing and scored 15 in the first quarter. Brandon Roy not only kept the Blazers in the game, but on top. He practically matched Wade's 15 with 13 of his own in the first. Roy cooled off considerably after that, finishing the game with 15 points. The contest was back-and-forth from there with the Heat pulling away in the fourth. Wade got the team going with a number of jumpers. Zo energized the crowd with some amazing blocks that led to fast break baskets for guys like Posey, Walker and the Heat's newest addition, Eddie Jones. You could tell in the fourth, that the Heat were really enjoying themselves. They were making the extra pass, finishing on the break and playing tough D. Riley will be back next week, as well as, Jwil. Ron Rothstein has done an excellent in job in Riley's absence. He amassed a record of 13-9 during 22-game stretch. Riley will be coming back to a team that has turned the corner, and is ready to defend it's championship. Adding Jwil back to the starting lineup will free up Dwyane Wade and allow him to focus more on getting to the hoop and not worrying about setting up his teammates. I think I might be smelling another championship!
No, I don't only post when the Heat win... Friday night the Cavs snapped the Miami Heat's five game winning streak, preventing the Heat from reaching the .500 mark, and before the Heat had time to cry about it they had to deal with San Antonio Spurs. Shaq, Wade and Kapono stepped up and the Spurs were unable to flop their way to a victory. They lost 100-85. It was a nice win for the Heat, who came out with a lot of energy. Shaq got Miami going by scoring, pretty much at will, and holding his own on defense. Kapono was the man in the first half for the Heat on offense. He came out jab stepping, quick shooting and taking to the rim. He's really stepped up as a third scorer while Jwil's been out with a torn oblique. Wade struggled in the first half. He was trying to get himself going, but most of it resulted in foul shots. Miami went into halftime trailing by one 46-45. In the third, Miami got it going. With help from the bench, Miami was able to take the lead for good and take control of the game. Shaq was strong. He sat at the end of the third and wasn't needed for the rest of the game. He had 16 points and seven rebounds in only 25 minutes. This was Eddie Jones' break-out game with the Heat. He finished with 12 points and made some key plays offensively and defensively. He's going to be a bigger addition than I originally thought. He's basically the exact same player as James Posey. They even look alike! Walker had a nice game too, finishing with 10 points and four rebounds. The fourth quarter was all about D-Wade. He took over. It was very Jordan-like. He scored 18 in the quarter and absolutely dominated the Spurs. With about 6:30 left in the fourth, Wade had two blocks on Tony Parker that basically made my year. On the first block, Parker weaseled his way into the paint for a lay-up attempt. Wade, came out of nowhere and blocked his shot sending it to half court. The Heat blew a chance to capitalize on the fast break. They quickly turned it over and the Spurs quickly moved the ball up court giving Parker a one-on-one opportunity against Wade. After a quick move, the little Frenchman tried for another lay-up only to have it once again blocked! Wade got the ball, dribbled it up court, went up for a shot, and tried to make a quick pass that resulted in a turnover. It wasn't Wade's only one. He had six turnovers. Only one away from Friday night's stellar seven. You think this team misses Jwil? YES!
Do games like this really need a blog entry? Not really. Heat win 91-79. Not much more to report. The Celtics reek. I mean, they are a joke. Me and two of my friends could beat them. Al Jefferson is the only player on that team that has any kind of game. Boston has won 12 games this season and after watching them lose to the Heat tonight, I'm surprised they have won that many. The Boston Celtics have a ton of problems. Their team is full of pieces that don't fit the puzzle. Guys like Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and Sebastian Telfair. Doc Rivers is an over-rated coach, who seems like a nice guy, but has never been able to win anything at the professional level. Captain of the Titanic, is ex-Celt Danny Ainge. He has made nothing but questionable moves ever since he has taken over the GM position. The once proud organization is about to hit rock bottom and everyone needs to go. The NBA should really consider contracting them. However, the biggest problem with the Celtics is their announcers. Hands down. If you have watched a Boston Celtics game you have had to deal with Mike Gorman, Tommy Heinsohn, and if you are lucky, Bob Cousy. The three worst announcers I have ever heard, at any level, for any sport. It's like watching a game and listening to Mr. Magoo and his two brothers call the game. Now I have nothing against old people, BUT these geezers have to go. They don't pay attention, Gorman and Heinsohn spend the game picking Cousy's brain, which there isn't much left of, listening to him wax poetical about the glory days, and cheer for the Celtics, making them the biggest homers in professional sports. It all just makes you hate Boston even more. I guess there isn't anything wrong with that.
Well, it took over a half a season, but finally the Heat look like NBA Champs. Granted, it was against one of the worst teams in basketball, the Charlotte Bobcats, but the Heat haven't looked this good all year. Miami dominated the Bobcats from start to finish on their way to a 113-93 victory. It's the Heat's fourth win in a row, and are now only two games under .500. D-Wade led the team with 27 points, 12 assists and 4 turnovers. But Shaq was the real stand out in the game. This was, without a doubt, Shaq's best game of the year. He finished with 22 points on 10-14 shooting in only 21 minutes of action. Shaq was active and aggressive the entire game. It looks like his conditioning is coming along. The Heat were still playing without starting point guard Jason Williams. He was dressed for the game, and could have played, but Miami never needed him. Chris Quinn got the first start of his NBA career because Gary Payton had been suspended for one game for the two technical fouls he picked up on Saturday night. Apparently, he didn't exit the court quickly enough after getting ejected, so he got a suspension. Quinn did a nice job filling in for the Mitten. He finished with 14 points and 5 assists. Honestly, I hope Payton doesn't come back. Chris Quinn isn't John Stockton, but he's decent and makes good decisions. He's also very feisty. He fights for everything he can get. What was so impressive about this game was the way the Heat led the entire game, and never let the inferior Bobcats get close. That's what big time teams do. They dominate crappy teams, and play tough with good teams. Ok, so the Heat haven't played tough with good teams yet, but this is still a step in the right direction. Not only did they blow the Cats out, but they had a lot of fun doing it. There was all sorts of ball movement, slam dunks, fast break baskets and fantastic shooting. They finished the game shooting a gaudy 62%. Wednesday night Miami takes on a Pierce-less Boston Celtics team. The Celts have lost 14 in a row, and if all goes well the Heat will make it 15. If they keep getting efforts like tonight, first place shouldn't be far away.
If you were busy tonight and didn't have time to take in the Miami Heat/Milwaukee Bucks game, believe me when I say you didn't miss much. It was about as entertaining as the Heat/Cavs game on Thursday. Boring! The game was basically an abortion for the first three quarters. Miami was playing a Milwaukee Bucks team that was playing, once again, without Michael Redd. Without him, the Bucks are one of the worst teams in basketball. Instead of jumping out to a big lead and dominating the game, like a championship team should do, Miami played down to its competition and not only allowed the Bucks to hang around, but Milwaukee led for most of the first three quarters. Shaq played, but was quickly out of the game with two quick fouls. He was a non-factor in the first half. Speaking of non-factors, The Mitten, who is filling in for Jwil, did every thing in his power to lose the game for Miami. Late in the second quarter, Payton got called for a reach in foul. Instead of accepting the call like a man, the Mitten argued with the official. We all know how that works. You would think that after playing in the league 17 years, Payton would know that officials never change their call. Evidently, he's a slow learner. He was hit with a tech, but that didn't stop him. He continued to do about the only thing he can still do and that's run his mouth. He got hit with another tech and was tossed. Thanks for coming Gary! Way to fill in for the injured point guard. Payton's dismissal forced Wade to play the point. I'm sure he didn't mind touching the ball more. Wade finished with 32 points, 11 assists and 4 steals. Wade wasn't the only one who had nice numbers for the Heat. Jason Kapono, who has really stepped up and become a very strong player for the Heat, finished with 28 points. Shaq came alive in the second half and had 20 points, but only 4 rebounds. This team is really hurting without Jwil playing the point. Thursday Wade had 39 turnovers, I think, and tonight's Mitten collapse really shows how selfish Payton is. He can't be trusted. If Riley didn't rush Williams back, I'm certain he would be 100% by now the Heat's record would substantially better. I think he's got to the point where he's not interested in coming back until he is completely healed. The Heat aren't going to be able to win another championship without him.
The Heat took on a Redd-less Milwaukee Bucks team tonight in Miami and smoked them for a 110-80 victory. No Jwil or Shaq for the Heat, and it didn't matter. This was basically a perfect game for Miami from start to finish. This is how NBA Champs should play. Wade led Miami with 28 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. I think he had 35 dunks in the first quarter. It really was a rout. Everyone on Miami looked like an All-Star. Example: Gary Payton, The Mitten, had 8 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds. An even better example is Michael Doleac. Are you ready for this.....11 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and.....5 steals!!! Hands down the player of the game. I could go on about what a great win this was for Miami, but honestly, this win means absolutely nothing. The Bucks wreak, and Miami has a ton of problems. All of which apparently showed up while I was on vacation in Florida. Miami's number one problem is D-Wade. That's right, I said Dwyane Wade. Last year's Finals MVP. The fifth highest scorer in the league. The guy shoots too much. Once the fourth quarter hits, he brings the ball up the court, tries to take his man off the dribble, and winds up forcing bad, off balance shots that result in fast breaks for the other team. Not only that, but his teammates become spectators on the offensive end. It's a one-man show and everyone knows it's coming. It's the same problem that haunted the New Jersey Nets last year with Vince Carter. The Nets are actually still suffering with that problem, but that's because they suck and Jason Kidd beats his wife. But I digress. Everyone on the Heat is responsible for Wade's gluttony. The coaches, the players, the media, Shaq's knee. Everyone. Miami needs more of what we saw tonight. Sharing the ball. Setting crisp picks. Running the floor hard. Solid bench play. Solid defense. It all leads to easy wins. That's what Miami needs right now. A .500 record has been an impossible goal so far this year, and they need as many easy wins as possible. Tonight they played a team minus it's star, and on Thursday the Heat take on a Cavs team that might be without King James. The networks might hate the idea of Le Bron-less Cavs team taking on the NBA Champs, but the Heat couldn't be happier.
Miami's winning streak is snapped in OT 124-118. The Miami Heat came into L.A. winning their last four games, and hoping to wrap up this six-game road trip with a victory. But the Heat finished the trip the same way they started it. With a loss. The Lakers started the game a step quicker than Miami. To start, the two teams traded baskets as both teams seemed anxious. Toward the end of the quarter, the Lakers really settled down and started raining down three's. Luke Walton had a strong first quarter for L.A. He slithered his way to the rim for three easy layups. During the second quarter, the Heat did a better job of keeping him out of the paint. Kobe started the game by setting up his teammates. He quickly had four assists. He picked his spots when it came to scoring. Shooting 3-6, he had 7 points and 5 assists at halftime. Both Smush Parker and Brian Cook were 3-4 from downtown in the first half. Their 3-point shooting kept the Heat at arms length. At a point, the Heat were down double digits in the half, but Wade and company weren't going to give up. James Posey came off the bench and provided a huge lift. He had 10 points in the half on 4-6 shooting. Wade had a huge first half. Once again, doing it all. He exploded out of the gate to start the game taking everything to the rim and getting the Lakers quickly in the penalty. He was setting up his teammates, and playing hard on D. He finished the half with 19 points, 5 assists and two steals. Lakers had a 61-59 lead at the half. The Lakers picked up where they left off in the third. They came out smoking, and once again, Miami fell behind. Miami would play from behind for most of the quarter until the end. Walker came to play for Miami in the third quarter. Late in the quarter, Wade went to the bench and Antoine ran the offense. He started by hitting a deep three. Next time down the court, he drove the lane and set up Udonis Haslem with a beautiful pass. Then, with Miami's last possession in the quarter, he drilled another three to give Miami a two point lead. The Lakers hit a three to end the quarter and go up by one. At the end of three, the Lakers led 88-87. What a finish. The fourth quarter was filled with runs. The Heat started the quarter off with a run to regain the lead. Then, the Lakers came back. The teams traded leads back and forth. Wade lead his team. Kobe lead his. It came down to a missed three by Wade, but a dunk by Haslem to tie the game 110-110. Then it was Kobe's turn. His shot was deflected, and the game went into overtime. Overtime came down once again to the two stars. Except unlike the fourth quarter, Wade was unable to keep pace with Kobe. Neither player looked great, but Kobe did a better job down the stretch and got it done for the Laker win. His defense on Wade proved to be too much for the Heat to overcome. Kobe finished with 25 points and 8 assists. The Heat went to Wade too much in OT. Everything went through him and because of Kobe's defense, he had a hard time getting others involved. With D-Wade over dribbling and not being able to create offense for his teammates, the Heat were dead in the water. Wade finished with 35 points, 8 assists and four steals. The Heat now return home for a couple days of rest. Their next game is against the Indiana Pacers, on Thursday night. Shaq is rumored to be back by then. For the first time this season, Miami should have their starting line up together on the floor. Look out league.
Somebody forgot to tell the Utah Jazz that they are 24-12 on the year, and 14-3 at home because the Heat smacked them around like where in they were a bunch of D-Leaguers. Miami never trailed in the game and won 119-110. The Heat got a huge lift when the starting line-up included Jwil. For only the second time this season, Jason Williams played in back-to-back games. He has been playing the entire season with pain in his right knee from off-season surgery, and back-to-back's have been too much of a strain on his repaired knee. Jdub opened the game by draining his first two shots. Both from downtown. Miami jumped out quickly to a 12 point lead. They were firing on all cylinders. Walker and Posey continued their solid play, after missing four games because of failure to meet conditioning goals, and in the second quarter, both contributed with the three-ball. Walker did miss two wide open lay-ups, though. The Heat were just ripping the nylon in half. They were shooting over 50% from the floor and over 60% from three. Wade and Williams had 33 points and six assists between the two. Wade led the team with 18 points, which included a buzzer beating three from over 30-feet from the basket. The Heat had a nice 16 point lead at the half. For the second night in a row they scored over 60 in the first half. They led 64-48. In the third, the Heat lead swelled to 22. The Jazz made a run and changed up the defense, which was somewhat effective. By the end of the quarter, they shaved the lead down to 13. It would have been even closer but, believe it or not, Walker really helped Miami with two three's late in the quarter. He finished with 13 points. In the fourth, things got tight. The game really slowed down with both teams fouling like it was there job. Carlos Boozer put the Jazz on his back, and got his team as close as six. He finished with 29 points. The Heat called a timeout, regrouped and regained control of the game. Kapono hit some 3's. Wade went to the line about a thousand times and the Heat lead went back up to 17. It was a great win for the Heat who took another step closer to .500. The team shot 50% from the floor, 56% from three, and as a team, they were 42-45 (93%) from the free throw line. Wade led Miami with 32 points, 10 assists and six steals. Williams chipped in with 20 points. The play of the game was with two minutes left in the second quarter. Wade drove baseline, took a big hit and flipped the ball over his shoulder for hoop and the foul.
The tempo might have favored the Warriors, but in the end, the score favored the Heat. Miami cruised to their third win in a row with a 118-96 victory over the Golden State Warriors. In the beginning, the pace really favored the Warriors. Both teams were running the floor hard and trading baskets. It was very entertaining. Jwil got off to another quick start with 8 points and five assists, within a blink of an eye. By the end of the half, those numbers ballooned to 11 points, nine assists. Alonzo Mourning played his butt off in the first half. After receiving an early technical foul, Zo went on a warpath and started swatting shots all over the court. He finished the half with 10 points and four blocks. Golden State got all of their scoring on fast break points. They were pushing the ball hard, and took advantage of Miami's early turnovers, but Warrior players were falling like flies. They lost two players in the first half. Both Mickael Pietrus and Adonal Foyle went down with twisted ankles. Neither player returned. After losing both players, the Warriors were down to only eight players. By the end of the second quarter, Miami really turned it up. Everything was working. Jwil hit D-Wade for an alley-oop dunk, plus the foul. Williams found Posey for a quick jump hook in the paint. Kapono hit from downtown, not once, but twice. With the Heat rolling, they were able to open up a ten point lead and led 64-54 at the half. Miami blew the game open in the third quarter, where they outscored Golden State 31-17. Jwil was running the offense. Wade was scoring off screens and taking it to the rim. Kapono was draining 3's. Haslem was doing all the little things. They were just rolling. The Warriors, basically laid down and died. All five starter for Miami finished in double digits led by Wade with 22 points. He was one assist away from a triple double. Kapono followed with 20 points. Jwil finished with a double/double, 11 points and 12 assists. James Posey returned to the starting line up after missing the last four games, unfortunately for the Heat, Antoine Walker was back too. Pocket Fulla picked up right where he left off before the suspension. He made the most of minutes by raining down 3's and playing solid defense, but Walker was completely rejuvenated. The time off might have done Walker some good. He actually played a solid game, and he might have gotten his stroke back. Walker had 13 points, three rebounds and three assists. At one point, he actually hit back-to-back 3's. They were in garbage time late in the third quarter, but they still counted. No. 8 did still manage two turnovers, but did have two steals so they cancel each other out. The play of the game was in the third quarter, Wade drove the lane, while the entire Golden State team collapsed on him. He elevated just past the free throw line, spun 360 degrees, and somehow banked a shot off the window for two and one.
The Miami Heat took on a snow storm and the SuperSonics in Seattle, and came away with a 107-103 victory. It was the second road win in a row for Miami against another bad team, but right now, Miami will take whatever they can get. The Heat took the floor looking tired and old. They were still playing without Shaq, Pocket Fulla Posey, Number 8 and their head coach Pat Riley. Jwil started off hot hitting his first four shots, including 3 of 3 from downtown. but then stopped shooting almost completely. Still, he led the team in scoring at halftime with 11 points. Wade had trouble with his shot early, but got others involved. He had nine assists at the the half, but only four points. The Sonics played a solid first half. They shot over 50% from the floor and were very active on the boards. Chris Wilcox and Nick Collison were killing the Heat down low. They followed every shot and got a ton of easy dunks. Wilcox wound up having the game of his life, finishing with 28 points and 13 rebounds. Heat trailed by seven at the half, 55-48. The Heat came out firing after halftime. Wade got things going by draining his first two shots. Then Jason Kapono started nailing deep two's. After about three minutes of play in the third quarter, the Heat had fought back and tied the score 67-67. Jwil and D-Wade swapped rolls for the second half of the game. Wade started scoring and Williams started setting up his teammates. In the second half, Wade scored 25, and White Chocolate had four assists. Gary Payton had a good all around game against his old team. He played Ray Allen well, helping hold him to 29 points. Six of those points came in the last ten seconds of the game. Payton finished with 14 points. Too bad the Heat don't play Seattle more often.
Dwayne Wade returned to the Miami Heat's starting line-up Sunday night, and led the team to a 93-90 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers. He led all scorers with 33 points. If there was any rust from missing four games, D-Wade certainly didn't show it. He came out blazing, hitting his first four shots. He had every thing working. Spectacular reverse lay-up's, pull-up jumpers, drives to lane resulted in either a basket or a trip to the foul line. It was vintage Wade. In the first half, Wade absolutely lived at the line. He went 11-13 from the charity stripe in just the first half. Every thing was working for Wade, who had 25 points at halftime, but the rest of the team struggled. Portland couldn't miss in the first half. They shot 53% from the floor and 50% from behind the arc. Brandon Roy was especially hot. He was draining 3's and doing serious damage down low, with his back to the basket. He had 16 points at halftime and finished with 18. Portland led 60-52 at the half. The Trail Blazers started the third quarter with an 8-0 run and quickly built up their largest lead of the night (16 points). Little by little, the Heat chipped away. First, they did it with excellent ball movement, ensuring that almost every player get a hand on the ball before a shot was attempted. Then late in the third, they did it with defense, forcing six turnovers in the quarter. During the first minutes of the fourth quarter, the Heat got with in two, Blazers led 75-77. The Heat and Blazers continued to slug it out in the fourth, like two heavy weight fighters in a title match. The lead changed four or five times before Miami went ahead for good. Zach Randolph, the Trail Blazers' go-to-guy, started off the game slow thanks to foul trouble, but got things going in the second half. In the fourth quarter, where the Heat and Blazers were trading baskets, Randolph nailed a bunch of big shots keeping the Blazers either ahead or down by a basket. He finished with 15 points. The play of the game took place in the fourth quarter with only a little over a minute left in the game, Wade drove the lane taking on the entire Portland team and dunked in Zach Randolph's face.
A wounded Miami team limped out to Phoenix to take on the run-and-gun Suns and were torched 108-80. It was the beginning of a six-game road trip that goes through Portland, Seattle, Golden State, Utah and the LA Lakers. This road trip is crucial for the Heat, who really need to get back to winning. They have lost five in a row, and are still without All-Stars Shaq and D-Wade. Miami's game plan was simple, use up as much of the shot clock as possible on every possession to try to control tempo and limit Phoenix's shot opportunities. Jwil was constantly putting on the brakes while bringing the ball up the court. It must have been so painful for him. It was like watching Homer Simpson deliver a box of doughnuts without eating one. Williams finished the game with 14 points and five assists. He was tossed in the fourth quarter when he went after a ref for not making an obvious foul call. At least someone was showing some spunk. The Heat played their game, played to the tempo that they wanted, but in the long run, they just couldn't compete with the Suns firepower. Phoenix just dominated Miami down low and from behind the three point line. They finished with six players in double figures, lead by Nash who had 22. Miami switched from man-to-man defense to zone all night, but nothing worked. They made little runs throughout the game, but once they were down in the first quarter, they really never got close. The play of the game was in the closing seconds of the third quarter when Jwil lost his dribble, while trying to create for the last shot of the quarter, Sun's guard Marcus Banks scooped up the ball and launched a deep three as the horn sounded. He nailed it.
Miami Heat took on the visiting Los Angeles Clippers and got waxed 110-95, but the real story was coach Pat Riley announcing that he is taking a leave of absence to have knee and hip operations. The day started in Miami with Dolphins head coach Nick Saban announcing that he would be leaving the NFL and going back to the college game as the head coach for Alabama. Only hours later, Riley told reporters that he would be stepping down for an undisclosed amount of time to have two operations that he has been putting off for a couple of years. Coach Riley promised that he would return to the bench at some point, and left the team to assistant coach Ron Rothstein. That wasn't the only news that Riley fed the media, he also stated that both James Posey and Antoine Walker were inactive for tonight's game because of failing phyiscal requirements set by the team. That left the Heat with only ten players for tonight's game and of those ten, two were not named Shaq or D-Wade, who continued to miss games due to injuries. Not much to report on the actual game. Jason Williams jacked up a bunch of bad 3's. Udonis Haslem did basically nothing for his second game in row, Zo blocked about 49 shots. Jason Kapono actually had a good game. He went 7 for 10 (3 for 3 from 3), and led the team in scoring with 19. Miami should have won the game. Sure, they were playing without a bunch of guys, but they were playing at home against at terrible road team and the Clippers were without Sam Cassell and Cuttino Mobley. Instead, they lost their fourth game in row and fall five games below .500. Riley leaving this team is devistating for Miami. He's their identity. He's their leader. He claims that that he is going to stay closely connected to the team as he rehabs, but unless he's there everyday it's not going to be the same. They need him in the practices, on the sidelines and in the trenches. In two weeks, the Heat should be at full strength on floor, hopefully Shaq and the other verterns can band together and get this team back on track. Otherwise, this year is going to be an embarrassing follow up to what was a magical championship run.
The Heat traveled up Florida's Turnpike to take on their instate rivials the Orlando Magic. Starting guards Jason Williams and Dwyane Wade made the trip, but both players spent the evening on the bench adhearing to the NBA's dress code policy. Wade continues to be out with a sprained wrist that he hurt two games ago against Chicago. It's the third game of the year that Wade has missed and the Heat are 0 and 3 in those games. Jwil was out with a sore quadricep. He had off-season knee surgery to relieve tendonitis in his right knee and is still recovering. Because of the surgery, his quad is still weak and he is unable to play in back-to-back games. Orlando was playing without Keyon Dooling and Grant Hill, but they didn't miss them. Miami's starting line-up was altered once again. With no Jwil or D-Wade, coach Riley decided to go with Alonzo Mourning, Jason Kapono, James Posey, Udonis Haslem and Gary Payton. Surprisingly, last night's star, Dorell Wright, came off the bench. The game was competitive at the start, but it didn't take long for Miami to fall behind. Early on, the Heat had no answer for Dwight Howard. Basically, every time he touched the ball, Miami fouled him. The Magic put two big runs together in the first half. One of eleven points and another one of twelve points. Orlando was dominating the interior and finished the half with 34 points in the paint. Howard led the team with 16 points. They led Miami at halftime 48-37. Miami scored only four points in the first nine minutes of the second quarter. They were outscored 21-10 in the quarter. Things would only get worse from there. The game was over in the thrid quarter. Orlando picked up where they left off, and Miami actually regressed. The Magic pounded the ball inside on offense and locked the Heat down on defense. It turned into amateur night in Orlando, as Riley, desperate to get something going, inserted bench players Robert Hite and Earl Barron. Before the Heat knew it, they were down double digits and never made any kind of come back. Antoine Walker had another strong game. 13 minutes, 0 for 6 from the floor, zero points, one turnover and one personal foul. Outstanding. The play of the game was every time 21-year-old Dwight Howard's feet left the floor. Howard can jump through the roof! He skyed for rebounds, alley-oop dunks, blocked shots and jump hooks with his opposite hand.
The Miami Heat were back home from Chicago more shorthanded than ever, thanks to Kirk Hinrich's dirty play, and were stopped by one of their own players while taking on the New Jersey Nets. The Nets won 91-81. Both teams came into the game missing key players. The Nets were missing Nenad Krstic, who is out for the year with a torn ACL, and soon-to-be 40-year-old Clifford Robinson, who has been out with a bad knee. Miami played without Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade who is still nursing a sprained wrist from Wednesday night's game in Chicago and James Posey who was serving a one game suspension for his flagrant foul on Luol Deng. Jason Kapono filled in for D-Wade, but got off to a bad start. He missed his first couple of shots and quickly picked up two personal fouls. He was replaced by Antoine Walker, who actually made his first shot, but slowly reverted back to his old ways. More on him later. Dorell Wright started the game like he was shot out of a cannon. Calling for the ball, and taking it hard to the rack, he quickly filled up his stat sheet with points, rebounds, blocks and steals. He finished the game with a career high in points (21) and blocks (6). The Heat pounded the ball inside early and dominated the paint. They out rebounded and out scored New Jersey down low. Alonzo Mourning had a terrific first half and ended it with beautiful block on Vince Carter as time expired. He led Miami at the half with 12 points, as the Heat led 41-39. In the third quarter the Nets turned things around. They switched to a zone defense and packed the paint with defenders. Miami couldn't score. They couldn't do anything. New Jersey was filling it up and went on a 21 to 0 run. They were shooting it at 83% in the quarter. Miami really missed Wade and looked confused. Coach Pat Riley called three timeouts all spaced about two minutes apart trying to keep the Heat in the game. The Heat went six minutes in the quarter without scoring. The Heat were down by as many as 18, but would not be denied. Kapono started to heat up and made some highly contested jumpers to get Miami back in the game. Jwil pitched in with some 3's and drives to the basket. They cut the lead down to eight. It looked like they might have another comeback in them. Little did the Heat know that on this night, they were playing four-on-six basketball, instead of the usual five-on-five. Antoine Walker proved to be too much for Miami. He was throwing the ball off teammate's finger tips, fouling defenders, passing up open shots, taking bad shots, getting called for offensive fouls. Walker was everywhere. He was basically unstoppable. When all was said and done, No. 8's damage was too much to overcome and the Heat just ran out of time. He finished with an unbelievable six turnovers and four personal fouls. Now that takes some serious skill. The play of the game was when Josh Boone tried to dunk on Dorell Wright in the second quarter. Wright stuffed him and then stared him down, as Jwil got the rebound. Wright is a man.
The Miami Heat traveled to Chicago looking to get back to .500 on the year and avenge their opening night disaster at the hands of the Bulls. Instead, Miami lost 109-103 and lost their superstar guard Dwyane Wade. Wade sprained his wrist early in the first quarter while trying to fight through a screen. On the following Bulls posession, Wade, now hurt, leveled Andres Nocioni who was setting a screen. Wade's foul was clearly retaliation. He was called for the foul, and then taken out of the game where he was tended to by the Heat's medical staff. Wade was taken back to the dressing room where X-rays were taken and were negative. He was held scoreless. Without D-Wade, and of course, Shaq, the Heat struggled to find offense. In the second half, they found themselves down as many as 20. Chicago was making shots from all over, and shot 50% from the floor in the first half. At the half, the Bulls lead 57-45 behind Ben Gordon's 19 points. Jason Williams lead the Heat with 12. The Heat kept the game close in the second half, but without Wade, they couldn't score. Luckily for Miami, the Bulls offense, on a good day, is pretty rugged. If Gordon's not lighting it up, they stuggle. So Miami was able to battle and stay in the game. Jason Kapono stepped in for Wade and did what he could to help the Heat stay competitive. Kapono finished with 18 points. Jwil gave Miami their first lead since the first quarter when he hit a three to give Miami an 81-80 lead. He followed that three, with two more. Back-to-back-to-back. Two of them were five feet behind the three-point line. White Chocolate finished with 28 points, six assists and was 7 for 10 from downtown. The forth quarter went back and fourth with both teams going up by slim margins, but it was Chicago that took advantage of all opertunities and were able to pull out the win. Ben Gordon was huge off the bench for the Bulls, leading all scorers with 40 points. Antoine Walker tired to make the game about his big mouth before it even started. He was quoted knocking the Bulls defense, saying that their "team" defense was better last year and that this year they relied too much on newly aquired Ben Wallace. It was total bullitin board material, and Chicago had an obvious extra bounce in their step to begin the game. Walker put up his usual numbers; one point, one turnover, two personal fouls and two rebounds in nine minutes of action. The play of the game happened early in the first quarter when Jwil tired to take on three defenders with a floater in the lane, once he released it, Luol Deng swooped in and caught it. It went down as a block, but it was more of steal on a shot attempt. Very impressive.
The stage was set. American Airlines Arena was packed. It was Christmas Day and everyone was awaiting the ultimate one-on-one game between two of the most athletic, exciting superstar players in the NBA. But this year, only one superstar came to play. Dwyane Wade gave Heat fans the biggest gift of the day when he powered Miami past the L.A. Lakers 101-85 in arguably the most over-rated game of the year. D-Wade scored 40 and had 11 assists, but his defense really showed as he coupled four blocks with four steals. It really was a one man show. I could tell you about some of the other players, but why bother. Wade was the whole team. Often bringing the ball up the court, driving the lane, dishing to open shooters or taking it strong to the rim, while the entire Lakers' team tried to defend him. He blocked shots, stole lazy passes, made sensational plays and made the NBA remember why the Miami Heat were champions last year. The Lakers were off the entire game, but no one more so than Kobe Bryant, who started the game missing his first six shots. Miami really defended him well, doubling him every time he touched the ball forcing it out of his hands. Gary Payton, James Posey and Wade took turns guarding Bryant and all were effective. Kobe lead his team in scoring, but finished with only 16 points. When Kobe's not Kobe, the Lakers are real pedestrian. Their team is pretty sad. I mean, Luke Walton starts. Kwame Brown is their center. What else needs to be said? They were missing a very important Lamar Odom, but even with him, they don't stand a chance in the western conference with teams like the Suns, Mavs and Spurs. Kobe makes the team interesting because on any night he can rip off 81 points, but it seems that no matter how many games his team struggles in, he can't figure out what Wade has known all along. You can't win games by yourself. Sure, you can win a game here and there, like Wade did tonight, but you can't do it for a season or an entire playoff series. You have to be able to trust your teammates. After what happened to Kobe in Colorado three years ago, I don't know if he can ever trust anyone.
The Miami Heat defeated the Golden State Warriors 105-92 tonight in Miami behind a solid defensive performance and a balanced offensive attack. The game got off to a lightning-fast start with both teams scoring baskets quickly, often leaving 18 to 16 seconds on the shot clock. Alonzo Mourning set the tone for the Heat's defense by blocking three shots in the first quarter. Two-time Slam Dunk champ, Jason Richardson started the game off hot for the Warriors hitting shots all over the court. By halftime, he had 18 points. Jason Kapono came off the bench in the second quarter and started draining shots from all over the floor. He finished the quarter with 15 points. At the half, Miami had a ten point lead and were doing a great job of sharing the ball. Both Dwyane Wade and Jason Williams had six assists. The fun continuted for Miami in the third quarter where they were able to blow the game open thanks in large part to Kapono's hot hand. The Heat players continued to feed him the ball and he finished the game with a career high 27 points. The play of the game happened in the fourth quarter when Jwil went after a tipped pass and as the shot clock was winding down, he found an open Michael Doleac underneath the basket with a beautiful behind the back pass for the easy lay-in. White Chocolate finished the game with 10 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds. He continues to lead the league in assist-to-turnover ratio. By the end of the fouth quarter, Miami emptied their bench and the starters rested for the Christmas Day show down against the Los Angles Lakers. The Heat finished with six players scoring in double figures and were able to hold the Warriors to 13 points under their season average. With the win, Miami is now back to .500 at home. Jason Kapono really proved tonight that he deserves to be in the rotation. His offense can be a huge boost for the Heat who have gotten nothing from both Gary Payton and Antoine Walker. Speaking of Walker, he chipped in tonight with two points, three turnovers and three personal fouls. Payton didn't even get off the bench. Pat Riley's best coaching move of the night.
The Miami Heat traveled to Milwaukee Wednesday night to take on an average Bucks team and instead of continuing their winning streak, they got their door's blown in 121-95. The game started off well for the Heat with a balanced scoring attack. The Bucks were doubling up on Wade every time he touched the ball and he did a good job of getting rid of the rock and making plays for others. Jason Williams also came out early looking to score. He had five quick points and a couple of assists, including a nice alley-oop to D-Wade for the jam. The Heat were using the pick-and-roll to perfection getting great open looks. Defense was missing for both teams early on. The Heat and Bucks traded baskets for most the first half, often giving up lay-ups followed by looks of confusion. Michael Redd and Mo Williams got their team going with wide open 3's and cuts to the basket for easy lay-in's. At the end of the second quarter, Miami separated themselves a bit and lead at the half 56-53. That was a good time to turn the game off if you are a Heat fan. The third quarter was the beginning of the end for Miami. Turnovers, bad shot selection, and horrible defense lead to a 30-15 point swing in the Bucks favor. By then, the game was over. In the fourth quarter, Milwaukee didn't miss a shot. It was a complete blow out. It was sad. Embarrassing. The Heat need to wake up and smell themselves. They can't take games off or leave their defense on the plane. They are playing without Shaq, and like all of Shaq's free throws, these games matter! They aren't going to win games by just showing up. They need to play a solid 48 minutes and they need everyone to contribute. That includes YOU Antoine Walker!!!!
Before Miami's game on Monday, Pat Riley announced that the Heat have withdrawn from the Allen Iverson sweepstakes. He said that he had conversations with Philadelphia's GM Billy King about acquiring A.I., but nothing formal was ever officially offered. On Tuesday, Iverson was traded to the Denver Nuggets for Joe Smith, Andre Miller and two late first-round draft picks. The short-handed Nuggets (thanks to a brawl with the New York Knicks) need Iverson's spark and ability to score in order to keep pace in the very competitive West. Once Melo gets back from his suspension, they will have the number one and two scorers in the league. It will be interesting to see if Iverson will be able to share the ball with someone who is more a pure scorer than himself. The Heat made the right move by passing on Iverson and it really is a good sign of how Riley feels about this underachieving Heat roster. Last year, Riley preached the slogan "15 Strong" that galvanized the team, and helped them win the NBA Championship. Apparently, he still believes in this "15". He must believe that Shaq is going to be back and still be effective. He must believe in D-Wade and his tired legs. He must believe that J-Wil's knee will someday return to full strength and he will be able to play in back-to-back's. Besides, the Heat don't need a player who takes bad shots, turns the ball over and plays no D. They already have Antoine Walker for that.
The Miami Heat slapped the Memphis Grizzlies around United Airlines Arena last night winning 98-90. Miami was carried by D-Wade, who had missed the last two games with oral surgery. Not surprisingly, both of the games were losses. The Griz were lead by Mike Miller and Hakim Warrick who both had 20. The game was close in the first half, but the Heat pulled away at the end of the second quarter building up to a seven point lead at the half, and the Griz never recovered. The Grizzlies got their Euro Star back for only the second game of the season, Pau Gasol. He has been out with a broken foot. He scored 11 points. Dwyane Wade did his usual thing finishing with an impressive 41 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals. The last time these two teams met, the Grizzlies Dahntay Jones started the games in hopes to slow the D-Train. He was somewhat successful with Wade only scoring 23 points. The Grizzlies coach, Mike Fratello, went with the same game plan for last night's game, only to watch it blow up in his face. Wade carved up the Grizzlies' defense at will. He often hit the lane like a running back in traffic. Weaving, hesitating, cutting and dicing his way to rim. At one point, he hit the paint dribbling behind his back to get around Eddie Jones, who almost lost his cane on the play, and then splitting two seven-footers at the front of the rim and making a reverse lay-up. It's unfortunate the Griz aren't in the Southeast Division because the Heat own them. This is the second year in row that the Heat have swept the season series. Jwil and James Posey have loved to step on the court against their old team, making The Logo, Jerry West, rue the day he combined the two players in a deal last year for the old and over-rated Eddie Jones. It's worked out great for the two Heat players who are now NBA champions. If the Heat can get back a healthy Shaq, they may be well on their way to a second ring.
The Miami Heat are off to a terrible start. They can't defend. They can't score. And they can't win at home. Every loss, every blown lead, every turnover pushes them one step closer to pulling off a blockbuster deal to bring Allen Iverson down to South Beach. According to reports, the Denver Nuggets are leading the AI race with the Minnesota Timberwolves close behind. That maybe true for now, but every Miami loss brings Iverson a step closer to becoming a member of the Miami Heat. Pat Riley pulled off a trade last year that was the biggest trade in NBA history. He sent Eddie Jones to Memphis and brought back Jason Williams and James Posey. Rasual Butler went from Miami to New Orleans and the Heat picked up Antoine Walker from the Boston Celtics. Now Riley is ready to send the same players he traded for a year ago to Philadelphia for the league's highest scorer to help out an over-worked D-Wade and an elderly Shaquille O'Neal. Iverson, Wade and Shaq would make for a scary trio for any team in the NBA to match up with, but would Iverson's personality clash with not only the Miami Heat's two stars, but with their legendary coach. It's definitely a risk, but a risk that could be worth a dynasty. On the other side of this trade, I think Jwil, Pocket Fulla and Number 8 would be a big help to the Sixers. Philadelphia hasn't had a true point guard since they lost Eric Snow, and a White Chocolate/C-Webb reunion would be a real positive for the team and Webber, who has wanted out of Philly for over a year. Posey's contract expires at the end of the year to help the Sixers shed some cap space and Walker might be able to get back to his All-Star ways in a new environment. If this trade goes through, I think it would speak volumes of what Riley thinks of Shaq's health. There were reports around the league that Shaq's knee injury could end his season. Riley denied that report and said that he talks with the teams doctors every day about Shaq's progress and being out the season has never been mentioned. He might not be out the season, but this is now the second year in a row that Shaq has missed a serious amount of games with an injury. He's now 34 years-old and his stats go down every year. It might be time to bring in someone to pair up with Flash and bring another championship down to Miami. The Miami Heat are now 9-13 (4-7 at home) and a shell of the team they were last year. They have yet to beat a team with a winning record.
I knew the Miami Heat were going to be without D-Wade, and of course the Big Aristotle, Shaquille O'Neal, but I didn't know that they were going to roll into Washington without their starting point guard J-Wil. Once the starting lineup was announced I knew they would be rolling out of The District with an "L." Early on, the Heat didn't disappoint. With a starting lineup that included an ancient Gary Payton and rarely used Jason Kapono they were able hold the Wizards to only 40 points in the first quarter. So after watching The Mitten turn the ball over to Gilbert Arenas for an easy basket, and then watching back-up center Micheal Doleac make a beautiful pass to James Posey, who was at the scorers table waiting to check in, I thought it would be a good time to finish up my Christmas gift wrapping. James "Pocket Fulla" Posey turned the game around for the Heat in the second quarter where he scored 17 points. Posey, who has been rumored to be one part of a possible Sixer/Heat trade for Allen Iverson, showed some offensive firepower that used to be an every night occurrence when he was a starter for the Memphis Grizzlies. The idea of going from the reigning NBA champs to arguably the worst team in the league apparently has had an effect on his shooting. He finished the game with a season high 26 points. Unfortunately, for the Heat, it wasn't going to be enough to carry them to a victory. The Heat got close, they were within five at one point, but in the end they dug a hole that they just couldn't get out of. So it's back on the plane, and back home to take on Grizzlies tomorrow night in American Air Lines Arena.
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