Will January Cool Heat?

A month ago, I said that December should be a pick-me-up month for the Miami Heat. Although the Heat lost to two teams with losing records, Memphis and Milwaukee, Miami finished 9-4 in December and is now 17-13 on the season. The month was highlighted by wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, two of the best teams in the NBA.

Miami, one-and-a-half games behind Detroit for the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, has reason for confidence heading into the New Year. For the better part of the first two complete months of the NBA season, the notion that when star guard Dwyane Wade struggled, the team followed was held firm. But when Wade shot 7-for-23 from the field against Cleveland, four other players had double figures as the Heat managed to upend the Cavs.

Now, five players average double-figure points for Miami: Wade, Michael Beasley, Shawn Marion, Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers. Moreover, Daequan Cook is right on the cusp, with an average of 9.9 points per game. That's an encouraging sign for the Heat offensively. And Coach Erik Spoelstra has done a good job of getting his team to play chaotic defense, most recently a zone defense against the Cavs.

It could all change for the worse in January. Miami will start Jan. 2 with a back-to-back sequence, starting at Orlando and then against New Jersey. The Heat will have one day off before hosting San Antonio, the third-best team in the West. The team will then have to go out for a seven-game road trip, six of those games against Western Conference-teams. Miami will start the road trip with a nationally-televised game at Denver before facing Sacramento, the Lakers, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Houston and finally Oklahoma City to finish up the road trip. The good news is that in the road trip, the Heat will only have one set of back-to-backs, visiting the Timberwolves and then the Bucks.

With that being said, it doesn't necessarily get better after the road trip. The Heat will host five of the last six games of the month. Miami will, however, face Boston, Orlando, Atlanta and Dallas to end January. All four of those teams have better records than Miami's.

All in all, the Heat will play 16 games in January, nine against teams with records better than 17-13. It's good that Miami took care of business in December, because the Heat can go 7-9 next month and still be over .500. On the other hand, the Heat's upcoming schedule will certainly test its mettle. And Miami will not only need to overachieve in the future, but get some help from other teams in order to get the four-five match-up in the playoffs.

Keep in mind that Miami has beaten San Antonio, Phoenix, the Lakers and Cleveland this season. This team has proven it can compete, but the question now is whether this young, small team can be a good enough team that it isn't hovering over the .500 mark.

Balanced Attack Withstands Cavs

With the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a "mini-playoff" series of sorts with a home-and-home sequence, the Heat took care of its home court advantage and withstood several late Cleveland surges to hold on to a 104-95 win.

Miami built up a 16-point lead by halftime as the Cavs shot a miserable 31 percent from the field. But as the Heat saw against Cleveland just two days earlier, the game was far from over. LeBron James did much more against Shawn Marion than he did on Sunday; finishing with 38 points on 12-of-24 shooting and 11-for-14 from the foul line. A three by James, who celebrated his 24th birthday in Miami, cut the lead to 78-77 with just under nine minutes left.

The Heat simply ran away with the game from that point on, building the lead back up to 14 with 4:52 left in the fourth quarter before Daniel Gibson made two triples that were simply too little, too late.

Rookie guard Mario Chalmers shook off a hamstring injury he sustained in his last game with Cleveland and really turned it up for the Heat. The second-round pick out of Kansas had eight points in the dicisive Miami run to finish with 21 points on six-of-seven shooting from beyond the arc, eight assists, three steals and no turnovers. Chalmers' point total was only matched by Wade on the Heat and registered a career-high in three-point field goals. Chalmers also did a good job on Maurice Williams defensively, as Williams shot just two-for-eight from the field.

On the offensive end, it did not matter that Wade only had two points in the fourth quarter. Daequan Cook and Chalmers made Cleveland pay for double-teaming Wade. The sophomore out of Ohio State had 11 of his 17 points in the final quarter and did it on five-of-nine shooting from the field. Cook even hit five straight points for Miami to give Miami its 14-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Udonis Haslem and Shawn Marion each had double-doubles, combining for 27 points and 21 rebounds. I was happy that Marion looked to dunk the ball more as opposed to shooting his point-blank floaters. And Udonis Haslem's jump shoot is still there, a positive sign for Miami.

In the fourth quarter, Spoelstra went to a zone defense. Cleveland was stifled by Miami's zone defense, and never had another run when the Heat went to it. This allowed LeBron James to have different guys thrown at him, not just Marion. Even Wade was seen guarding James in the latter stages of the game.

The best thing about Miami's win tonight was that its ball movement was flawless in the fourth quarter, and its defense was confusing for Cleveland. Outside of Wade, the entire Heat only committed eight turnovers. Wade finished with 21 points on an abysmal 7-for-23 shooting from the field. However, Wade did have 12 assists. As I said, it did not matter that Wade was off on his game; others stepped up for him.

Joel Anthony was much more active against Zydrunas Ilgauskas, even making the 7-foot-3 Lithuanian product play some defense. Anthony played Ilgauskas to a near standoff, coming up just short in a 7-8 match-up. Ilgauskas scored six points below his season average of 14.

Michael Beasley struggled offensively, going just one-for-five from the field in 13 minutes. Beasley, however, did make it the foul line six times and sank all of them and grabbed five rebounds in his limited time. Spoelstra sat him on the bench in the fourth quarter after the Kansas State product played more than 24 minutes in his past two games.

Miami has a tough January ahead, with games against Orlando, Boston, San Antonio, the Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta, among other teams. But this Heat team, fresh off a horrendous 15-67 season, has beaten San Antonio and Phoenix on the road and the Lakers and now the Cavaliers at home. There has got to be some confidence heading into the challenging road of the New Year.

Cavs Shock Heat

The Miami Heat did what only one other team in the NBA has done: carry a lead into the final quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Unfortunately, Miami could not do what no other team in the NBA has done: beat Cleveland at home, as Miami gave up a 10-point fourth quarter lead to lose, 93-86.

Dwyane Wade struggled in the first half, shooting just 3-for-11 in the first 24 minutes of play. The star guard for Miami turned it up in the third quarter, with 13 points and stifling defense as the Heat went into the fourth quarter with a nine-point advantage.

Coach Erik Spoelstra did what he normally does, rest Wade at the beginning of the fourth quarter. However, LeBron James was on the court at the beginning of the final stanza of play; and the first overall pick in the 2003 Draft found Zydrunas Ilgauskas for a crowd-pleasing three to cut the lead to four just two minutes and ten seconds into the game.

Wade immediately came in and hit a jump shot to extend the lead to six. On Miami's next possession, Michael Beasley dunked the ball with authority even as Ilgauskas fouled him. That would, however, seemingly be Miami's last graceful moment as the Cavaliers ran away with this game because of open jump shots, tough defense and lots of foul shots as the Cavs went into the bonus with 8:19 left to go in the fourth quarter.

This was a tough loss for Miami. The Heat had the game within its grasp before it slipped away. Miami played horrendous defense in the fourth quarter, making careless fouls early on and letting Cleveland put up 35 points in the fourth quarter. Miami also committed five turnovers in the final quarter. Udonis Haslem and Shawn Marion could not hold on to the ball, combining for eight turnovers in the game.

Wade finished with 29 points on 12-for-25 shooting from the field and five-for-seven from the foul line. The 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette added four rebounds, eight assists and two steals on the game, but only had six points in the fourth quarter and could not take over the game

Haslem added 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting and nine rebounds, but those turnovers hurt Miami. Haslem would set a pick for Wade and the Miami native would let a guard take the ball from this hands after diving to the hoop. Still, I have to give credit to Haslem for coming back to play after bleeding profusely from his head after an inadvertent blow by James in the fourth quarter. And Haslem has re-gained his shooting touch, and the Cleveland defense could not load up on Wade as much.

Cook added 12 for Miami on four-of-eight shooting from the field. The former Buckeye nailed a three to keep the game to within 86-90 with 28 seconds left, a good sign of not giving up. Cook even took on the defensive assignment of guarding James, even while giving up three inches and 40 pounds to the star forward. He and Marion did a good job on the 6-foot-8 forward out of Saint Vincent-Saint Mary's High School, who made some incredibly tough shots.

The problem is that no one outside of those three and Beasley had more than two field goals for Miami. Mo Williams made mincemeat out of Mario Chalmers, making him take tough shots while making the rookie out of Kansas State pay for leaving him open. Marion continued to aimlessly attempt his point-blank floaters that usually bounce off the rim. When will the four-time All-Star try to bank it in?

Joel Anthony could not match up with the 7-foot-3 Ilgauskas. I add part of the blame to Spoelstra. He should have known that a player should never front a bigger player with no one guarding the basket. Jamaal Magloire did a nice job backing Anthony up, with six rebounds by halftime. This is the second consecutive time Spoelstra has used Magloire against bigger centers. Do not be surprised if Magloire gets more playing time in the future, especially with Cleveland and Orlando next up for Miami.

Marcus Banks is officially the backup point guard for Miami. Is it to showcase the player whose contract goes beyond 2010 or a common-sense move to get more defense? Time will tell, but Banks had good floor vision, with five assists in 14 minutes of play. Banks, however, did commit a senseless eight-second violation before looking at the official as if he had never heard of the rule before.

Miami played tough defense through three quarters, keeping the Cavs to just 40.8 percent shooting. Unfortunately, the early fouls really plagued the Heat in the fourth quarter. The Heat will attempt to get even on the series with Cleveland Tuesday night in Miami.

Joe Smith to Miami?

Sources have said that Pat Riley is interested in trading for Joe Smith, the 6-foot-9, 13-year veteran for the rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder. Although the power forward position is not an area of need for Miami, I can see why Riley is interested. If it meant giving up Banks' aforementioned long contract, it would allow the Heat to rent Smith for the rest of the season, start the Shaun Livingston experiment and get more money coming off the books for 2009.

Sweet 16

When the Miami Heat traded Shaquille O'Neal for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks last February, it was looked at as letting go of a future Hall-of-Famer to a championship contender as Miami, meanwhile, would rebuild its team.

Well, not many would have guessed that one-third of the way into the season, the two teams would have identical records.

But earlier today, Miami topped the Chicago Bulls in a 90-77 decision to give Miami its 16th win, a feat never accomplished by this same franchise a year ago. And the Heat and Suns each stand at 16-12, Miami within percentage points of Detroit's fifth seed in the Eastern Conference while Phoenix is barely holding on to the eighth seed out West.

It did not look very pretty for Miami, playing through three lackadaisical quarters to a 64-64 standoff at home. Fortunately for Miami, the Heat played tight defense as the Bulls only scored 13 points in the final stanza of play. However, it was the sensational offense of Dwyane Wade, Daequan Cook and Michael Beasley that pulled the game away from a Bulls team without Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden and Luol Deng, who got injured in the third quarter.

Beasley hit Miami's first two field goals in the fourth quarter while Wade sat on the bench. The rookie out of Kansas State then found Daequan Cook for a three before hitting both free throws after a hard foul by Andres Nocioni to stretch Miami's lead to 73-69. Cook hit a triple on two of Miami's next three offensive possessions before Wade's off-balance jump shot with two minutes and thirty-two seconds left iced the game for the Heat.

Wade shook off early foul trouble to finish with 28 points on 11-for-23 shooting, three rebounds, a steal and just one turnover. The star guard out of Marquette was just five-for-nine from the free-throw line, though. Wade, a 76 percent free-throw shooter, held his groin and grimaced in the second quarter. That injury may have affected the knees in Wade's free-throw attempts, as a lot of them were well short.

Beasley, who was rewarded playing time in the fourth quarter, played better than Derrick Rose. The second overall pick in last June's Draft had 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, six rebounds and two blocked shots. The first overall pick had just 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting with three assists and five turnovers.

Beasley's offense was on full display, as he drove to the rim and hit jumpers in 24 minutes of action. More importantly, Beasley played well defensively. He stayed with Nocioni when he shifted to the three and played tough defense as a four, rejecting a potential shot from both Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas.

Mario Chalmers also outplayed Rose. The second-round draftee who the Heat had to trade with Minnesota to acquire proved his worth again. Chalmers had 16 points on six-of-nine shooting, five rebounds, six assists and two steals on the night. The rookie out of Kansas played tough defense on Rose and even Ben Gordon, who went quiet in the second half after scoring 11 points on three-for-three shooting from beyond the arc in the first 24 minutes of play.

Cook was, well, cooking. The second-year guard out of Ohio State had three of his four triples in the fourth quarter. Shawn Marion, by contrast, spent most of the night around the rim. The four-time NBA All-Star had 10 rebounds and had a lot of garbage points, and could have finished with more than eight points. Marion, however, did find himself on the bench in the fourth quarter, as Coach Erik Spoelstra (rightly) decided to go with Beasley.

Another smart move by Spoelstra was to get Jamaal Magloire in the game. Joel Anthony had four blocks and five rebounds in 27 minutes, but Spoelstra needed to get some more size. While Anthony came over to block a shot, the 7-foot Aaron Gray would just get the rebound and put back an easy layup. Gray had 12 points and 11 rebounds, five of the them offensive, but when Magloire came in the game, Gray did not score another point.

Spoelstra continued to use Marcus Banks as the first point guard off the bench against the athleticism of Chicago's guards. Banks not only contributed to Rose's off night, he drove to the rim for a layup once he came into the game. When Wade is not on the court, Banks is one of the few guys that can keep Miami from being a jump-shooting team.

The Heat has not played East division leaders Boston, Cleveland or Orlando this season. That will change Sunday, when Miami and Cleveland will engage in a home-and-home sequence. The first of two will be at the Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavaliers have been a perfect 15-0.

Another Score

Dwyane Wade unwrapped a Christmas present for a Miami resident a little early. Wade's foundation, Wade's World, donated a fully furnished house, clothes and gifts to Dawn Smith after her house was accidentally burnt down by her nephew Christmas Eve. The NBA's leading scorer just scored again.

Heat Defeat Depleted Warriors

Well, it came harder than it should have against a Golden State team without Jamal Crawford, Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette. But the Miami Heat has now matched last season's 15-win total just 27 games into the season. Talk about being ahead of schedule.

Miami was down 21-24 after one quarter of play. The Warriors extended its lead to 11 by the eight minute mark of the second quarter. Fortunately for Miami, sophomore standout Daequan Cook hit two consecutive threes to cut the lead to five. But it was the seven consecutive field goals Miami made in the second quarter that helped the Heat always keep Oakland at bay. Cook, Haslem, Marion and Wade all chipped in to give Miami a lead it would never relinquish.
Cook finished with a season-high 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting and five-of-seven shooting from beyond the arc in just 27 minutes for Miami. The second-year guard out of Ohio State had 15 of his 20 points in the decisive second quarter to give the Heat its breathing room for the rest of the game. There is no question that Cook, shooting at 39.7 percent from three-point range, is a pleasant surprise this season.

Wade, meanwhile, was the explosive scorer tonight as he has been in seasons past. The 6-foot-4 guard out of Maquette had 32 points on 13-for-20 shooting from two-point range, eight assists, eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Wade also turned the ball over two times, well below his season average of 3.96 mishaps. If a blemish in Wade's game tonight could have been found, it was his zero-for-five shooting from beyond the arc and his 60 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Udonis Haslem, who has struggled in recent games, seemed to have regained his shooting touch back. The fifth-year forward out of Florida had 16 points on 8-for-11 shooting to go along with eight boards and one block. Saturday night against New Jersey, Haslem hit a crucial jumper to ice the game for Miami. It appears as though that shot was a big confidence-booster for the 6-foot-8 forward.

Haslem's partner up front, Shawn Marion, had another nice game. On the offensive end, Marion was an uneven three-for-seven from the field. However, the veteran out of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas was a rebounding machine, leaping for 16 boards. Miami won the battle of the boards 48-41, and his rebounding was essential. Obtaining more rebounds helps a team get more shot attempts. But in this case for Miami, it helped compensate for the 21 turnovers. The Heat's point guard, Mario Chalmers, turned the ball over a shocking five times while Haslem and Marion combined for six mishaps.

With Chalmers struggling, Spoelstra went to Marcus Banks early on. Banks had one foul and one turnover before getting yanked back to the bench after three-and-a-half minutes of play. Chris Quinn was back against a Golden State point guard lineup that featured Anthony Morrow and DeMarcus Nelson, and had two assists and two rebounds in 10 minutes of action. Nonetheless, Spoelstra still went with Chalmers through 39 minutes of the game.

It would be an understatement to say that Michael Beasley has had a tough rookie season thus far for the Heat. It was no different tonight, with the 6-foot-9 forward out of Kansas State finishing with five points on two-for-seven shooting. For most of the time he was on the court, it seemed as if Beasley did not know if he wanted to score or get his teammates involved. You cannot put too much blame on the kid, partially because it is as if Coach Erik Spoelstra is giving him mixed signals. He has publicly applauded Beasley's aggressiveness, but also asked him to be aware of his teammates.

I guess the problem for Beasley is not that he can not score – he proved that he can time after time at Kansas State – but that he does not have many plays set for him like Wade does. I would suggest Spoelstra to give the rookie forward a little freedom and set some plays for him so that he can be a sidekick to Wade. Heat fans would like to forget about Wade's consistent struggles during the team's three-game losing streak, but the man is not perfect. He is going to have bad games and Spoelstra is going to need someone to step up if this team has a remote shot at winning. Beasley can be that guy.

Moreover, Beasley's post action and Cook's shooting could provide a young, dynamic duo off the bench for Miami. But it will only happen if Spoelstra is willing to invest in Beasley. And it is not a matter of balancing out the minutes of Beasley, Haslem and Marion. Both played over 37 minutes tonight while Beasley could only get 13 minutes of playing time.

The Heat will try to one-up last season's win total Friday against Chicago in a nationally-televised game.

Wade Propels Heat Past Nets

Dwyane Wade continued to prove that he is back to the player he was during the 2006 NBA Finals, and arguably even better, with a 43-point performance to beat the New Jersey Nets in a 106-103 nail-biter. 

This was Miami's first win on the second night of a back-to-back in six attempts, and the entire team looked upbeat to play against the highest-scoring backcourt in the league of Vince Carter and Devin Harris and the rest of the Nets. But it was Wade who was the answer, scoring 12 of Miami's last 14 points in a tight fourth quarter. 

Miami's (14-12) big quarter was the second, as Wade scored 14 points to help Miami outscore the Nets 35-27 in the second period. Daequan Cook carried his hot game against the Lakers into tonight's game against New Jersey, scoring 12 points in the second. Miami led 62-56 at intermission, with both teams shooting above 58 percent from the field. But after a surge by the Nets in the third quarter, it would have to be a half-court game for the final stanza of play. 

New Jersey took its first lead of the game since midway through the second quarter on a fade-away shot by Carter with eight minutes and 15 seconds to go. When Coach Erik Spoelstra put Wade into the game, he found Marion and Cook for a dunk and three, respectively, to put Miami back up. The Nets would take the lead with 2:16 left to go on a couple of free throws by Carter to make it a 97-96 game. But Wade made a reverse layup on the ensuing possession, and Mario Chalmers found an open Udonis Haslem for a wide open jumper with 14 seconds to go to ice the game for Miami. 

Wade ended up tying his season high of 43 points, and did it on 13-for-22 shooting from the field and 16-for-18 from the free-throw line. Moreover, Wade also had four rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. Wade went to the basket often, and that let his jump shot come easier to him after he had made a few shots. 

Cook, Miami's second-leading scorer for the second consecutive night, finished with a season-high 17 points on four-of-five shooting from beyond the arc. Cook also spent a lot of time on Carter, who finished with a relatively quiet 21 points on 5-of-14 shooting, and did an admirable job. Teams are going to start to honoring Cook's jump shot; and when James Jones comes back, Miami will be deadly three-point threat off the bench. 

The player who spent the most time on Carter, however, was Shawn Marion. The four-time NBA All-Star had another nice game with 10 points on five-of-nine shooting. Again, I like that Mario Chalmers and Wade found easy plays for him. Marion will make timely cuts to the basket if he is given a path. And the rest Wade gets for not having to guard the Kobe Bryants or Carters of the League gives the leading scorer plenty of energy for the offensive end. It is good to have a defensive presence at the three. 

One of Marion's partners in the frontline, rookie Michael Beasley, had an efficient night. The 6-foot-9 forward out of Kansas State had 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting with five rebounds and a blocked shot. Beasley was very active around the rim, at one point tipping in a missed free-throw by Marcus Banks. But Miami's first-round pick only played 15 minutes tonight. He can continue to develop if Spoelstra is willing to invest in him. 

It is not a usual sight to see Banks on the court. The most experienced point guard for Miami had only played in eight games leading up to tonight. But perhaps Jordan Farmar's smothering of Chris Quinn against L.A. made Spoelstra use the more defensive-oriented Banks. The 6-foot-2 guard out of UNLV did not disappoint. He played good on-the-ball defense and was able to pressure the likes of Devin Harris (who shot an uncharacteristic 5-for-15 from the field). and Keyon Dooling full-court. More importantly, however, Banks looked like a floor general. When Banks first came into the game, he found Beasley for a jump shot late in the first quarter. At the start of the second quarter, Banks drove to the rim for a nice layup before finding Beasley and Cook for field goals.

The advantage to having Quinn, who did not play tonight, off the bench is that he is a pass-first point guard who is a great shooter. Banks, by comparison, can give Miami defense and some nice drives to the basket. The seldom-used Banks had four assists in 10 minutes and did not turn the ball over tonight. He can crack the rotation if he can be a distributor for Miami.

Joel Anthony was again active for Miami. The 6-foot-9 Canadian center hit three consecutive field goals for the Heat in the first quarter and finished with eight points on four-of-five shooting, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Coming off of two nice wins, Miami will rest until Tuesday, when the Heat will host the Golden State Warriors in the highly-anticipated re-match after the first meeting between the two resulted in a 130-129 overtime Heat win. 

Heat Burn Lakers

Well, sort of. 

The Miami Heat built a 12-point lead in the third quarter, only to have it evaporate to only one late in the fourth quarter, but managed to sneak by the Los Angeles Lakers in an 89-87 decision after Kobe Bryant missed a shot that would have sent the game into overtime.

That is not to downplay the importance of this win. Entering the game with a three-game losing streak, Miami showed toughness throughout the game and executed some key plays down the stretch. A team as talented as the Lakers would not have gone down without a fight, and this game is a big step in the right direction for the Heat. 

The third quarter, the stanza that has not been nice to the Heat on its three-game losing streak, was pivotal for Miami. The Lakers were out-scored 17-29 in that quarter, and a huge L.A. surge came up just short. The Heat went on a 16-4 run to close out the third quarter, combining good execution with stifling defense. In the waning moments of the quarter, Dwyane Wade had the ball at the top of the circle. Trevor Ariza poked it away, but Wade got the ball back and heaved it right in the basket for the deep three to give Miami a 12-point lead entering the final stanza of basketball. 

The fourth quarter started off with both teams turning the ball over, and no one scored until Andrew Bynum's hook shot with nine minutes and 12 seconds to go. L.A. proceeded to cut the lead to five before Daequan Cook hit a crucial three to give Miami an eight-point lead with seven minutes left. But the Lakers got it down to two after Bryant made a turnaround jumper with 41 seconds left. And when Wade missed a jumper at the other end, Miami would need a good defensive play. 

The Heat got three. 

After Bryant drove to the basket and dished it off to Odom, Joel Anthony blocked his short jumper. Odom got his own rebound and put it back up, only to have his shot blocked by Wade. Then the ball got into the hands of Pau Gasol. Gasol went up, but Wade was right there to block the ball as he brought the ball up for a layup. The ball went out of bonds, and the Lakers would have another chance with just nine seconds left. 

Gasol got fouled and made one of two free throws to make it a one-point game. After the ball was in-bounded to Wade, Odom got a little over-aggressive and would send Wade to the line. Miami's star guard sank one of two before Bryant's shot to send the game into overtime went in-and-out. 

What made Wade score 35 points on 13-for-25 shooting and two-for-four from beyond the arc, grab six rebounds and collect three steals? I just saw a player that got his offensive rhythm back. He has been double-teamed and triple-teamed before. Tonight, Wade managed to find the little cracks in the defense to get to the basket. And L.A. put some tough defense on the 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette. Bryant has been known for his defense for years and Ariza has long arms to use on Wade. 

I have to give credit where credit is due. Shawn Marion had a great game for Miami. Gone were the times when he got the ball in the post and did not know what to do. Marion finished with 12 points on five-of-nine shooting and 11 rebounds for Miami. Tonight, Mario Chalmers recognized Marion's cuts to the basket and rewarded him. Marion got the ball from 15 feet out and drove to the rim and either got himself a bucket or found an open teammate. That is what I would like to see more of from Marion. 

Marion spent much of his time guarding Bryant, with Wade taking him on occasionally. Marion did not slow down last year's season MVP, but made him take some tough shots and allowed Wade to rest on defense, guarding Ariza and Luke Walton for most of the game.

Chalmers and Cook played well for Miami. Both looked to initiate offense when Wade rested. Chalmers drove to the rim on occasions and Cook came off of screens and made big shots for Miami. 

But the unsung hero for Miami was Joel Anthony. He was extremely active for Miami, with eight boards (four offensive), three steals, two blocks and four points. Anthony got Andrew Bynum into foul trouble and took him completely out of his game, but also set some nice screens for Wade to allow him to drive to the hoop. 

I was disappointed with the play of Michael Beasley. Coach Erik Spoelstra gave him plenty of first-half minutes, checking into the game with 7:45 left in the first and not coming out until midway through the second quarter. The problem was that Beasley never looked to attack the rim and initiate offense. When Wade is on the court, Beasley should be aggressive and look to score for Miami. 

Even with the Laker run in the fourth quarter, for Miami to beat the best-in-the-West Lakers was a good sign. Miami looked better on both sides of the court tonight, but will face a challenge tomorrow night. With the Heat and Nets deadlocked for the sixth seed in the East, the two teams will play in New Jersey at 8 p.m. 

Injury Report

Friday was the fifth anniversary of former Heat center Alonzo Mourning's kidney transplant -- and the first anniversary since his season-ending knee injury against Atlanta. Mourning spoke with reporters before the game and reiterated his desire to rejoin Miami once he finishes with rehabilitation. 

Was Beasley the Right Choice?

I am really glad I do not have to write about the supposed "Shawn Marion for Anderson Varejao and Wally Szczerbiak" trade that was reported by Yahoo! Sports yesterday. Numerous sources for both Cleveland and Miami have denied such discussions. With a 20-4 record, the Cavaliers probably do not want to tinker with the roster too much. And that trade would leave Miami as evident losers from the deal. Instead, I want to write about Michael Beasley. Fresh with memories of when O.J. Mayo scorched Miami earlier this week, there are already grumblings that Heat President Pat Riley should have chosen Mayo.

The numbers give the edge to Mayo. Mayo averages 20.8 points per game while Beasley only averages 14.1. The guard out of Southern California has shot 47.2 percent from the field and 40.5 percent from three-point range while the forward out of Kansas shot has shot 44.9 percent and 36 percent, respectively. The 6-foot-4 Mayo averages just nine-tenths of a rebound less than the 6-foot-9 Beasley.
But it is important to go beyond the statistics that everyone looks at. Mayo logged 38 minutes per game through 25 games. Beasley, by comparison, has averaged only 27 minutes per game. Naturally, Mayo would get more opportunities to score if he is on the court more often. Mayo shoots 16.52 shots per game. Beasley shoots 12.78 field goal attempts per game. Dwyane Wade's former workout buddy is not asked to be a second option on his team. In fact, Mayo is not even the point guard for Memphis. He usually plays the two alongside either Kyle Lowry or Mike Conley Jr. in the backcourt. Mayo would be asked to be a floor general on the floor and defer to Wade on the floor.

That is not to say that Mayo's offense is necessarily a bad thing. Miami has averaged 80.7 points per game over its current three-game losing streak, and Mayo's offense would evidently provide a high-octane offensive threat next to Wade. And we have not seen Mayo play next to Wade for one game, so it is premature to say that Mayo would be a bad fit with Wade. But Mayo is expected to do more for his team than Beasley, so the statistical disparity is to be expected.

Many people will tell you that it is too early in the season to make final verdicts on draft choices. It will take a season, if not several, to figure that out. But 24 games into the season for Miami, I feel that Pat Riley made the right decision when he selected Beasley as the second overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.

There is no player who was better offensively than Beasley was in the NCAA last year. He put up dominant numbers of 26.2 points and 12.4 rebounds per game. He shot 53.2 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from beyond the arc. Now, I realize that stardom in college does not necessarily translate into stardom in the pros. But the tiny, 2.3 field goal percentage disparity simply exists because Beasley does not get enough minutes.

I have advocated as recently as my latest post that Coach Erik Spoelstra should give Beasley more playing time. Because he and Wade are the only two players that can create their own shot for Miami, Spoelstra should always have Beasley and Wade on the court at all times when possible. I also would not mind seeing the product out of Kansas State and Miami's franchise player playing together. It would prevent other teams from clogging the driving lanes so Wade is forced into jump shots. It would give the opposition another threat to worry about. I am sure Mayo would be able to provide the same if he played for Miami. But because of his play in college and the two shooting roughly the same percentage from the field right now, I would still have made the same decision if I were Riley.

If Beasley does receive more playing time, he will develop. Spoelstra should know that no rookie develops from the bench. Dorell Wright taught him that.

Heat Slide Continues

The Heat has been bad against Atlanta and bad against Memphis. But it all paled in comparison to how Miami was in the first half against the Milwaukee Bucks as the Heat lost its third straight game to fall back to the place it has been floating around all season long: the .500 mark.

These last three games have proven one thing. When Dwyane Wade struggles, the whole team struggles. Last night, Wade shot 5-for-16 from the field for 15 points, turned the ball over four times and committed four fouls. Moreover, Wade only made it to the free throw line six games and missed his second dunk in as many days. No one was able to step up offensively, and the Heat found itself down 56-36 by halftime.

It was here where Coach Erik Spoelstra made a huge mistake. He only played Michael Beasley 23 minutes last night. Beasley did not have a bad game. He shot 5-for-11 from the field for 13 points. The rookie out of Kansas State was the player who could put the ball in the basket the most out of all of the players in the NCAA. He and Wade are the only players who can create their own shot for Miami (12-12). Spoelstra should always try to have at least one of the two on the court at all times. And it is not an issue of foul trouble; the 6-foot-9 forward committed no fouls last night.
Do not let the boxscore fool you. Although five players scored in double figures for Miami, the Heat's offense was stymied for the better part of the game. The Heat's late surge, which included a 13-4 run to end the third quarter, was simply a classic case of too little, too late.

It's not just on offense that the Heat is out of sync. Miami has lost its identity of a scrappy defensive team that will force turnovers. Milwaukee only committed 10 turnovers last night and the patient style of the Bucks confused the Heat. And even with Udonis Haslem back, Miami lost the battle of the boards, 45-35. No player was able to grab more than seven boards. Miami's leading rebounder was Mario Chalmers, Miami's rookie point guard. Yes, you read that correctly.

Chalmers had a great game, but the loss overshadows his great play. The 6-foot-2 guard out of Kansas had 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and 3-of-7 from beyond the arc, the seven rebounds previously mentioned and eight assists. On the flip side, Chalmers did commit five personal fouls and five turnovers. But those turnovers were mostly in the early stages of the game. The second-round pick shot and executed better as the game went along.

Can Chalmers be a guy who can score off the dribble for Miami and be a legitimiate force offensively? Every player can have one good game. I see a lot of upside in Chalmers, but I would still like to see more of Beasley on the court. Beasley knows how to put the ball in the basket and he can do that consistently when he is given the minutes.

Shawn Marion, meanwhile, has been a very big disappointment for Miami. There were hopes of, with Marion and Wade going through training camp together, Wade would feed "The Matrix" with easy baskets and layups constantly. Instead, we have seen Marion aimlessly try to put a shot up in the air he has never become efficient at. He had a good game last night, but I know a lot of people who are expecting more out of the four-time All Star.

Keep in mind that Miami's last two losses were against teams with worse records than the Heat's. This was supposed to be a pick-me-up month for the Heat, with a pretty soft schedule in December. It even started to look like that with a 4-0 start to the last month of the year. But now Miami is back to where it was in the earlier. And this team better get back in its groove before it slides even farther.

Miami currently holds the seventh seed in the East, and will rest until Friday for its next game. The probably is, the next game is against the surging Los Angeles Lakers. L.A. leads the League in offense, with an average of 108 points per game. Spoelstra is going to need to get his players ready, and quick, or else they will find themselves embarrassed on national television.

Another Tale of Two Halves

In a recent interview with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, Dwyane Wade said that a lot of his teammates came into the 2006 training camp still celebrating the championship they attained just months before. Well, after Miami's first four-game winning streak since its title defense season, the 2006-07 campaign, it looks as if Miami is having another hangover of sorts. The Heat is now on a two-game losing streak, with a Sunday loss to the Memphis Grizzlies ending in a 102-86 defeat.

Like Friday's game against Atlanta, this was another tale of two halves in which the opposing team simply pulled away in the third quarter. Memphis scored the first seven points of the game, but Miami (12-11) quickly responded. Thanks to nine first-quarter points by Michael Beasley, who has back after battling the flu, the Heat pulled to within 22-25 by the end of the first quarter. Things stayed tight in the second quarter. Beasley continued his assault, with 15 points by intermission. Wade finished off the first half by taking rookie O.J. Mayo at the top of the circle, managing to break his ankles before sinking the wide open jump-shot to tie the game at 46 all.

But then the third quarter came. And just like against the Hawks, the Heat let the Grizzlies pull away. Memphis extended its lead to 10 by the eight-and-a-half mark of the third quarter. Wade's layup with 4:45 left to go made it a 64-69 game, but the Heat got no closer than that. By the end of the third quarter, Miami had all but thrown in the towel as the score was 81-66.

As crazy as this may sound, Mayo actually out-played Wade. Wade, who started off the game well, was again off with his jumpers this afternoon. The superstar guard out of Marquette seldom drove to the rim in the second half, something that has happened for the second consecutive game. Is this a sign of fatigue? Coming in just over 20 games into the season, it would not be a good sign. Coach Erik Spoelstra has tried to limit Wade's minutes to 36 or so a game. Spoelstra surely hopes this is just a small setback for his franchise player.

Mayo finished with 28 points, five rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers. What is more impressive is that Mayo shot a perfect four-for-four from downtown and eight-for-eight from the free-throw line. There was talk of Miami possibly selecting him in the days leading up to the Draft. Should Pat Riley have shocked the media and taken Mayo? I will have a post on that in the future.

The star of the first half for Miami, Beasley, cooled down in the second half. Beasley only managed to score five points in the last 24 minutes of basketball. For a 19-year-old, I am not going to get tough on the rookie. Who I am going to get tough on is Shawn Marion. The four-time NBA All-Star shot just 3-for-12 from the field, missing several shots in the paint. I do not think I would ever say this, but Marion is starting to remind me of Antoine Walker.

The 13 rebounds for Marion were good, especially with Udonis Haslem out to attend his grandmother's funeral. And Miami did win the battle of the boards, 47-38. But Marion has got to step it up offensively. Maybe he is not accustomed to a half-court setting, but he has got to get his act together. He is supposed to be a lethal force for opposing team. I doubt Marion is even one of the first three names opposing team's read when they pick up the scouting report.

To look at the good side of this game, Joel Anthony had a great game. The undrafted Canadian sophomore had his first double-double of his career. Anthony managed to score 12 points on a perfect five-for-five shooting, grab 13 boards and block five shots in 35 minutes. Anthony was easily Miami's most active player, and he is starting to remind me of a Haslem-type player who can block shots.

Again, in the third quarter, Memphis got everything it wanted and the Heat could not even buy a bucket. Wade shot 5-for-16 and his frustration led to the technical foul in the fourth quarter. Yakhouba Diawara, starting for the fourth time this season, shot two-for-six. Mario Chalmers shot three-for-eight. Chris Quinn shot 3-for-10 and Daequan Cook shot 3-for-12. It may have seemed like the Heat were within a half-game of attaining the fourth seed in the East, behind only Boston, Cleveland and Orlando just a few days ago. But this team still has a long way to go, and Spoelstra has his work cut out for him.

The thing is, the Atlanta loss was excusable. The Hawks pushed the Celtics to seven games in the 2008 playoffs and beat the Cavaliers just after defeating Miami. But the Grizzlies was, and still is, under the .500 mark. Memphis may have been on a three-game winning streak, but this is still a team that is very much in the developing stages. There is no excuse for allowing five Grizzlies to score in double figures.

The most pressing issue now for Miami is how the Heat can find its offense when Wade is not scoring 30 points for the Heat.

"We have to go back to the drawing board," Wade said.

Will Marion Move?

This is not the ideal time to run an NBA team. Not only is attendance down because of the economic recession, it already looks like the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers are pulling away from the rest of the League. Of course, anything can happen in the final five months of the season. But it should not be a surprise that New Orleans and Phoenix -- two teams that would like to compete with the Lakers in the West -- made deals Wednesday.

This brings us to the possibility that Heat President Pat Riley may trade Shawn Marion. Marion trade rumors were heard ever since Marion did not sign a contract extension with Miami last summer. The four-time NBA All-Star has put up mediocre numbers of 12.7 points and 9.2 rebounds this season compared to what we have seen out of Marion. As I said in my previous post, Miami is a jump-shooting team right now, and with that comes inconsistency. The Heat has won four of its last five games, but Marion has not proven he can step up when things are not falling down for Dwyane Wade.

Do not expect Riley to trade his highest-paid player anytime soon.Pat Riley will not trade Marion before James Jones comes back from his injury. Jones is expected to return in mid-January, which is still well before the trade deadline in February. The 6-foot-8 forward out of Miami University has never been a full-time starter in his five-year career. It would be quite a leap to give him the starting duty after coming off of a serious injury. But even if Jones plays well for Miami once he comes back, I anticipate Riley will let Marion ride out his $17. 2 million contract in order to sign a big-name free agent in 2009. Carlos Boozer's name has been thrown around the most when it comes to that for Miami.

Why will Riley keep Marion? While an expiring contract is appealing to certain General Managers, it is not to others. There is always the prospect of renting Marion for the rest of the 2008-09 season before he can sign take off to another team next season. And trading one or two key cogs will probably lead to some buyer's remorse. Moreover, Marion's statistics are down across the board, and most GMs would agree that he is not worth the $17.2 million he will get at the end of the season. Nonetheless, there could also be some sign-and-trade options for Riley this summer.

That is not to say that a trade involving Marion is very unlikely. This season has not been good for Mark Blount and Marcus Banks. Riley would love to get rid of either of the two overpaid players, and if trading them requires Marion to sweeten the pot, I do not see why Riley would not jump on the deal.

Miami is not looking to compete with Boston, L.A., or Cleveland. The Heat is in the Eastern Conference. All teams except Boston, Cleveland and Orlando are nothing special. Even the Detroit Pistons have fallen out of the top-tier teams in the East after its Allen Iverson trade left more questions than answers. If Erik Spoelstra can get his team to get the fourth seed -- which is still conceivable -- then attendance will steadily go up and the Heat will be a resurgent team. Pat Riley will then have salary cap flexibility after Marion's contract expires to get a top-tier post presence. That may be, simply, as good as it gets for Miami.

Hawks Snap Streak

The Miami Heat opened its match-up against the Atlanta Hawks on an 11-0 run, but seemingly did not have anything left as the Hawks cruised to an 87-73 win to snap Miami's four-game winning streak.

During Miami's 11-0 run to open the game, Shawn Marion had four points, Mario Chalmers hit a three, Udonis Haslem hit a jumper and Dwyane Wade capped it off with a jump-shot with eight minutes and 32 seconds left in the first period. That run was the complete opposite of what the Heat did the rest of the game. Marion's ugly shooting mechanic cost him a few easy shots in the paint, Haslem missed his open jumpers, Chalmers was riddled with foul trouble and Wade did not bail out Miami in the fourth quarter.

The Hawks closed to within five points by the end of the first quarter and had a 43-40 lead at intermission. In the third quarter, it seemed as if Atlanta was getting everything it wanted while the Heat could not buy a bucket. The only two players that shot above 50 percent from the field for Miami were Marion (five-for-nine shooting) and reserve center Jamaal Magloire (one-for-one shooting). Unfortunately, neither of the two stepped up to make this game even remotely competitive in the second half.

Miami's second leading scorer, Michael Beasley, had the flu and did not play tonight. His presence could have made a difference against the Hawks. Beasley is the only player on the Heat who can create his own shot whose last name is not Wade. As bad as this game looked, the Hawks did not play particularly well. Atlanta shot just 38 percent from the field. Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby shot a combined 12-for-33 from the field. The reason why the Atlanta won is because it made 32 trips to the free-throw line and out-rebounded Miami 53-37.

Beasley has had rough nights, but the Heat has still managed to pull a way with a victory. In that case, Wade would have a great game or Daequan Cook would have a nice shooting night from the field. Tonight, Wade shot a miserable 9-for-24 and made it to the free throw line just six times. Wade settled for too many jumpers, and with three days off leading into tonight's game, there is no excuse for settling. Cook, meanwhile, shot 5-for-14 from the field and committed five fouls in 30 minutes off of the bench.

Despite the rough night for Bibby, Miami's point guard rotation looked untested earlier tonight. Mario Chalmers got into early foul trouble and the Hawks took Chris Quinn apart on defense. Coach Erik Spoelstra decided to go with the longer, more athletic Marcus Banks. Banks could have done a lot more in his garbage minutes. The most experienced point guard on Miami's roster looked disinterested in playing defense and was non-existent offensively.

With the lack of slashes from Wade, Miami was purely a jump-shooting team earlier tonight. That is the problem when Spoelstra does not have a post presence to go to. And when you have a jump-shooting team, your team is going to be inconsistent. Against Atlanta, it seemed as though Wade made a domino effect on the rest of the team: he shot poorly, and so did everyone else.

Jamaal Magloire was active on the glass, with five rebounds in 13 minutes. In his last two games, Joel Anthony has had a combined one block. I know it is premature to label Anthony in a slump, but I am not completely sold on Anthony. Spoelstra knows how Miami's rebounding has cost them a few games, and may be willing to give more minutes to the 6-foot-11 Magloire rather than the 6-foot-9 Anthony. Spoelstra should still start Anthony, but the door is wide open for Magloire.

Nonetheless, the need for a post presence was highlighted tonight. Beasley drives to the rim and Wade drives to the rim, but Miami still needs that post presence who can get them those high-percentage shots consistently. As I said, when you are a jump-shooting team, you will be inconsistent. Throughout this season, Miami has been.

The Heat will fly to Memphis, Tenn., to face the Grizzlies Monday. The availability of Beasley against Memphis is unknown.

Wade Lifts Heat Past 'Cats

Dwyane Wade was again called upon to rally the Miami Heat in the fourth quarter to a win, and did not disappoint.

After Charlotte point guard D.J. Augustin made a three-pointer to put the Bobcats up 84-79 with just under seven minutes to go, Wade turned it on and got the job done. Wade found Yakhouba Diawara in the corner for a three to make it 82-84. But a couple of minutes later, Wade decided to take it into his own hands.

After grabbing a defensive rebound and taking the ball up court, Wade used a screen from Shawn Marion and drove right into the lane and viciously dunked on Emeka Okafor. That dunk made the game was tied at 86 all with 4:02 remaining. The game was mostly free throws from then on, but that play helped Miami overcome what was as much as a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit.
Jason Richardson missed two free throws that could have tied the game at 93 all, but Diawara, Udonis Haslem and Wade all made their free throws en route to a 100-96 victory. The crowd again serenaded Wade from the stands with chants of "M-V-P! M-V-P!" as he went to the line 19 times, with 15 connections.

Wade finished with 41 points on just 22 shot attempts. Wade also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists. Wade continued to stay true with his jump shot. Wade even shot four three-pointers last night, and connected on two. The turnovers (five) were a blemish, but the rest of the Heat only turned the ball over six times.

Wade's back-court mate, rookie Mario Chalmers, managed to out-play both Raymond Felton and Augustin. Chalmers had 15 points on five-of-nine shooting from the field and four-for-five from the free throw line to go along with three steals and three assists. Felton and Augustin, by comparison, shot a combined 6-for-25. Additionally, Chalmers was not the catch-and-shoot three-point shooter he has been all season long. He drove to the rim and took it off the dribble a lot.

Late in the game, Coach Erik Spoelstra went with a lineup of Chalmers, Wade, Diawara, Marion and Haslem. I expect Spoelstra to use that again, as going small was very effective against Charlotte. Diawara especially did his part defensively. After Charlotte guard Jason Richardson scored 13 points in the first quarter, Diawara guarded Richardson for most of the second and fourth quarters. Richardson went one-for-four during those quarters.

Other than Wade, Chalmers and Diawara, no one else played well for Miami. Marion shot just 5-for-13 from the field, missing several short shots. Haslem shot just one-for-five from the field, but did make his free throws down the stretch. Joel Anthony did have six rebounds, but did little to slow down Okafor, who finished with 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting and 12 rebounds. Quinn shot decent from the field, but his lack of foot-speed was exploited against the quickness of Felton and Augustin. Michael Beasley had a rough shooting night, and is still not able to step up as a definitive second-scoring option.

The Heat barely beat the Gerald Wallace-less Bobcats at home. The underrated Wallace had to go to the funeral of his grandmother. The Heat simply cannot continue to rely on Wade to bail the team out. Marion has proven to be a third-scoring option at best, and Beasley still has not found consistency to be the second option on offense.

Miami, nonetheless, is just percentage points behind New Jersey and Detroit and within striking distance of the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. The players will get plenty of rest before taking on the fourth-seeded Atlanta Hawks Friday night.

Heat Complete Trifecta

It was supposed to be a match-up between childhood buddies Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley, the last two Number 2 picks in the NBA Draft. Instead, it ended up as a match-up between Russell Westbrook and Dwyane Wade, with the NBA's leading scorer winning, 38-30.

The Heat also won three consecutive games for the first time since the 2006-07 season. This is a big step forward for this rebuilding team. Erik Spoelstra could not have asked for a better opponent last night, the Oklahoma City Thunder (2-19). The Heat (11-9) was able to withstand an uneven performance to come away with a 105-99 win.

Wade showed no signs of the migraine he suffered in Utah. In addition to scoring 38 points on 14-of-24 shooting and 10-of-15 from the free-throw line, the 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette had five rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks in 35 minutes. Unfortunately, Wade turned the ball over four times, but no other player turned it over more than twice and the Heat kept its total to 14.

Wade had 15 points in the first quarter and 25 by intermission. In the third quarter, the Miami lead swelled to 15 on Wade's three-point play with 2.8 seconds left in the period. Wade got some chants of "M-V-P! M-V-P!" from the stands as he went to the line for his free-throw.

Should Wade be the 2008-09 MVP? Just a quarter into the season, it's too early to tell. But when the Thunder went on a 20-5 run in the fourth quarter when Wade was on the bench, it shows that he is very valuable to this team.

It ended up as a 90-90 game halfway through the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the Thunder, Wade found Mario Chalmers for a three with 5:13 to go to make it a 93-90 game. Wade then made a fade-away jumper with 3:27 left to make it a 97-91 game. Shawn Marion then made six points in the final two minutes to ice the game for Miami.

Marion finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots on the night, hitting on all cylinders. Chalmers also added 15 on five-of-eight shooting from the field and three-of-six shooting from beyond the arc. The rookie out of Kansas struggled defensively against Westbrook and picked up three early fouls, but made the clutch shots in the fourth quarter.

Also adding 15 points for the Heat was Udonis Haslem. Haslem finished with 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 14 rebounds. Haslem has been a consistent scorer and rebounder since he shifted over to his natural position. His three consecutive games of 13 rebounds or more was the first time a Heat player has done so since Shaquille O'Neal in the 2004-05 season.

Miami did not get much help off the bench, with Michael Beasley only scoring six points in 13 minutes. Beasley got poked in the eye and had to go to the locker room for further treatment. When Beasley stepped back on the court, he complained of blurry vision and had to sit back down. Daequan Cook, meanwhile, struggled with his shot, connecting on only one of his five attempted shots.

But Jamaal Magloire provided the most in his five minutes of action. The 6-foot-11 center got an offensive rebound in the second quarter, threw his elbows around a few times, and dunked the ball with authority over two Oklahoma City defenders. His aggressive play is not bad, considering this is a team is need of some bulk.

"He gives us a level of toughness and a defensive presence there," Spoelstra said. "No matter what happens, I know somebody’s going to get hit. It could be one of our guys or one of their guys, or maybe him hitting the floor, but I like that physicality."

On a more serious note, Magloire has a shot with this club. I like Joel Anthony's defense, but the door is wide open for Magloire. If he can be a defensive presence and get a few off second-chance points, he could end up starting for this team. However, this is a big if.

The Heat, a team that has won the battle of the boards against its past three opponents, will host the Charlotte Bobcats Monday, Dec. 8. In the standings, Miami is only one-half of a game behind New Jersey for the sixth seed.

Injury Report

Chris Quinn missed Saturday's game due to a sprained ankle. He is expected to play Monday night against Charlotte.

Shaun Livingston got 12 minutes of playing time last night, his longest stretch since suffering a devastating knee injury in Feb. 2007. Livingston finished with three points, one assist and zero turnovers for the Heat.

But in the most unexpected news, Spoelstra talked about the possible return of veteran Alonzo Mourning to the team.

"He’s still working every single day," he said. "It’ll probably be another three weeks or a month before he can come to his decision."

Heat Finds Consistency on Road

The Miami Heat started its five-game road trip Nov. 26 and lost to the Portland Trail Blazers by 38 points. The Heat fell below .500 for the first time since Nov. 1 and it looked like Erik Spoelstra would have a long week ahead of himself.

But he did not. Spoelstra tweaked the starting lineup, moving Michael Beasley to the bench while inserting Joel Anthony at the five. This not only allowed Miami to have a defensive presence in Anthony, it let Udonis Haslem play in his natural position, the four. The Heat went 3-1 the rest of the road trip (and maybe 4-0 if that referee would have taken a step to the left or right) and managed to string two wins together for only the second time this season.

Miami (10-9) and New Jersey are currently deadlocked for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, and the Heat's schedule looks soft. League lightweights Oklahoma City, Charlotte, Memphis and Milwaukee coming up. It is imperative that the Heat do not take these teams lightly. This team has already lost to the Bobcats and the Clippers. But if Miami takes it one game at a time, they could continue to climb in the standings. The Heat have begun to find some consistency after a month into the season. And it starts and ends with Dwyane Wade.

Wade has been playing at an otherworldly level since last summer's Olympics (no, he is not a cheater). He averaged 28 points, five rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocks per game through 19 games. He is playing as well as he played in the 2006 playoffs, but this performance now may be more impressive. He is shooting at an astounding 49.1 percent from the field, just four-tenths off of his career-high of 49.5 percent shooting from the field in the 2005-06 season. He is developing much more consistency with his mid-range shot and has even gone out to the three-point line more often. The young man has been nothing more of spectacular -- and his numbers will only improve once three-point specialist James Jones comes back from injury.

It is not all Wade, though. Beasley, Shawn Marion and Haslem average double-digit scoring for Miami. Beasley is Miami's second-leading scorer with 14.5 points per game. He is the only player on the Heat who can create his own shot whose last name is not Wade. Beasley seems to be adjusting well to his new role off the bench, but the 6-foot-9 forward who averaged over 12 rebounds per game in his lone season at Kansas State is not attacking the boards enough.

Daequan Cook has also emerged as a bit of a surprise, highlighted with good games against Phoenix and Golden State. Sure, he has shot the ball when he should not have, but Cook has been solid. Him and Wade have such good chemistry together. Every time Wade drives to the rim, it seems like he knows where Cook is. Cook made clutch buckets against the Warriors and had a strong game off the bench against Phoenix. Cook and Beasley are proving to be a solid one-two punch off the bench.

More broadly, this team is finding its identity. On defense, the Heat is a scrappy team that will make opposing teams pay for their mistakes. Miami averages nine steals per game and Anthony has a knack for blocking shots. Offensively, Wade is the catalyst for everything. He can provide easy baskets for his teammates or take it to the rim himself. And when Wade is not on the court, Beasley has done a fine job as the second unit's offensive focal point. This can also give Wade more rest. As a player who has dealt with injury problems his whole career, Wade's rest is appreciated.

This team has a rookie coach, a nine-man rotation with no one taller than 6-foot-9, and six players in the rotation with less than three years of wearing an NBA uniform. It is not bad for that team to be floating around .500. But this is the Eastern Conference, and it already looks like Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando are pulling away from the rest of the pack. The Heat may be able to get the fifth seed in the East, a huge jump from winning just 15 games last season. Miami is two games behind Atlanta for the fifth seed. After going unbeaten through its first six games, the Hawks have been just as up-and-down as the Heat. The ball is in Miami's court. All they have to do is get the job done. A fairly successful road trip is a great place to start.

Heat Make Utah Sing Blues

The Miami Heat finally broke its up-and-down pattern last night against the Utah Jazz with a 93-89 victory that gave Miami (10-9) a winning record on its five-game West swing.

Do not be fooled by the final score. The Heat did not almost lose to the Carlos Boozer-less, Andrei Kirilenko-less Jazz. Shawn Marion's steal with two minutes and 52 seconds left to play made it a 93-82 game. Utah just made a last-minute surge that ultimately came to no avail. Six players hit double figures in points for Miami, with migraine-riddled Dwyane Wade leading the way.

The game stayed close for the entire first half, and Miami led 47-45 at intermission. The Heat won this game in the third quarter. Wade, who started off cool, scored nine points in the third quarter, helping the Heat make a decisive 16-2 run. With three quarters in the books, Miami led 65-74. On the defensive end, Miami was able to shut Utah down with the help of center Joel Anthony. Anthony blocked four shots in the third quarter, but also altered a few more shots and made Utah's perimeter players settle for jump shots.

Miami's lead stayed around 10 or 12 points for the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter. Mario Chalmers had two nice steals off of Jazz star Deron Williams in the final period, both leading to easy fast-break opportunities. Chalmers was eaten alive by Utah's pick-and-roll offense, but those two moments were highlights for the rookie point guard.

Chalmers finished with 10 points on five-of-five shooting from the free-throw line, five assists and three steals. On the other hand, Chalmers had five turnovers, not a good sign from your point guard. Chalmers' assist-to-turnover ratio last night was 1:1, something that cannot continue for the Miami Heat.

The player who one may expect to have the most turnovers on Miami is Dwyane Wade. This time, however, the 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette did not turn the ball over once. Wade was limited to 32 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble, but this is an encouraging sign from Miami's star guard. Wade also had 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field, five rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocked shots. And yes, he still leads the League in scoring.

Erik Spoelstra's forward duo of Marion and Udonis Haslem delivered again. Marion had 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting and eight rebounds while Haslem finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds, eight of which were offensive boards. Marion and Haslem were also helped that they did not have to defend Andrei Kirilenko or Carlos Boozer, who were both out with injuries.

Rookie Michael Beasley had another solid offensive game off the bench with 12 points on six-for-nine shooting. Unfortunately, Beasley only got 18 minutes of playing time. That was probably because Beasley had two fouls in the first quarter and turned the ball over five times. I like the fact that Spoelstra is making Beasley earn his minutes. People have told me that Pat Riley should have drafted O.J. Mayo, but Mayo is playing 39 minutes per game. Beasley is only playing 28 minutes. And the fact that the star forward out of Kansas State is having to earn his minutes will make him a better player.

Last night, it was Daequan Cook, not Beasley, who did most of the damage for Miami off of the bench. Cook had 10 points in the first half before missing everything the rest of the way. But Cook's first-half contribution should not be understated. Wade and Beasley both got into early foul trouble, and Cook's shooting helped Miami to a two-point halftime lead before the third quarter run.

Not only were Boozer and Kirilenko out, Williams (who recently suffered a hip flextor) and All-Star Mehmet Okur also had off shooting nights. But this team is improving. After a blowout loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, this team won three of its next four games on the road trip. This team could be beginning to feel buoyant. Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Orlando and Atlanta are the only teams more than one game above .500 in the East. The door is wide open for the Heat to rise up in the standings.

After Heartbreak, A Heartbreaker

A mere 48 hours after Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade offered up profanities after Miami's heartbreaking loss to the L.A. Clippers in a 96-97 loss, the leading scorer in the NBA embraced his teammates after a wild 130-129 overtime win over the Golden State Warriors.

The game was tight for the entire game, especially in the second half. Jamal Crawford, who finished with 40 points and seven assists, hit a three-pointer with just under five minutes to play in regulation to put Golden State up 105-101. But on Miami's ensuing possession, Daequan Cook answered with a three of his own. Cook, who finished with 11 points on three-of-four shooting from downtown, later made another triple with 1:59 left to tie the game at 111 all. Warriors center Andris Biedrins would make an and-one layup on Golden State's next possession, giving the Warriors another slight lead. Later a bucket from each team, it was a 115-113 game for the Warriors with a chance for Miami to tie it up or take the lead with just seven seconds left.

Wade drove to the rim and kicked it out to rookie Michael Beasley for a 10-footer. He missed, but Udonis Haslem grabbed the rebound with just 2.4 seconds to go and made the point-blank layup as the time expired to send the game into overtime. The late Monday night game wound up being a very thrilling meeting between two offensive fire powers. And it only got better in overtime.

Crawford remained red-hot in the extra period, connecting on a fade-away jumper to put Golden State up 125-123 with 1:35 left to play. With just seven seconds to play in overtime, Chris Quinn connected on a catch-and-shoot three that tied the ballgame at 129 all. The Warriors would then in-bound the ball, bringing back memories of Wade's steal off of Baron Davis' in-bounds pass and then resulting in an inadvertent whistle by one of the referees that could have tipped the game in the balance.

Somehow, Beasley managed to do what Wade could not. It was surprising, seeing as how Beasley celebrated and walked back on defense after Quinn's three. But right before Biedrins made the in-bounds pass, Beasley turned around and reached for the ball. He got it, and was not falling out of bounds. The game was in his hands.

Beasley's first baby-hook attempt was blocked by Biedrins, but he stayed with it and got fouled on his second attempt for the game-winning shot. Beasley made one of the two free-throws, but the Warriors would still have a ray of hope. There were 3.6 seconds in a one-point game and the Warriors' timeout advanced the ball to their three-point line.

Stephen Jackson got the ball to Crawford, the Heat-killer. The man who scored a career-high 52 points against Miami two seasons ago. The man who registered a season-high 40 points against the Heat last night. He drove to the paint and tried the jump-shot, but got the unlucky bounce. The game was over. After a heartbreaking loss to the Clippers, the Heat delivered a heartbreaking loss to the Warriors.

None of the plays I highlighted were on baskets connected by Wade. But if you just looked at the boxscore, you would probably think that Miami's heroics were delivered by Flash. Wade registered 37 points on 12-of-28 shooting to go along with 13 assists, five rebounds and three blocked shots. He forced a few shots and tried to do too much ball-handling in the late stages of the game, but had a spectacular game overall. Wade now leads his buddy LeBron James for the scoring title by .9 of a point.
Shawn Marion was very pedestrian in the Clippers game, but was alive and well last night. The four-time NBA All-Star had 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting, 15 rebounds and three steals. Unfortunately, Marion fouled out in the game, having to watch the last moments in the game on the bench.

Marion and his forward partner, Haslem made quite the duo. Haslem matched Marion's point total of 21 points and nearly evened him in rebounds with 13 boards. Haslem continues to appear more comfortable at the four, and this cannot be overstated. In his games starting at the four, Haslem has averaged 18 points on 62% shooting and 10 rebounds. The Miami native is playing at a star level.

Rookie Mario Chalmers had a solid game, with 12 points on four-of-eight shooting to go along with six assists. Chalmers was vulnerable on defense. Crawford was Golden State's "point guard" and stands at 6 feet and 5 inches. Miami ultimately went to a zone, which did not protect the rim for the Heat. This was why this game was so high-scoring and defense-less.

Beasley again provided instant offense off the bench. The 6-foot-9 rookie out of Kansas State had 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting and six rebounds in just 24 minutes. Beasley, however, continued with his poor decision-making on defense, and that will probably keep him on the bench at the start of games for the next string of games.

Cook and Quinn also provided sparks off the bench, finishing with 11 points and eight, respectively. Wade trusts Cook, and looks for him when he is driving to the rim. Quinn, meanwhile, also can connect on open shots. But Quinn's clutch three came off of an in-bounds pass. He came off of a screen, caught the ball in the corner and threw it up in the air while falling down. And it went in: no easy task.

Despite the nice win, one player performed poorly. Joel Anthony was not a defensive presence, and struggled against the athleticism of the Warriors. Anthony also failed to be a rebounding force, finishing with just two boards. Marion and Haslem did most of that work, and the Heat easily won the battle of the boards by a count of 51-36.

Erik Spoelstra had some fans scratching their heads when he inserted Marcus Banks in the game in the second quarter, who has been a walk-on for nearly the entire season. Banks committed two fouls in five minutes, and did not see playing time again. Was this an attempt to showcase the $4 million man to other General Managers or has Banks impressed Spoelstra during Miami's latest practices? Only time will tell.

Playing against the smaller Warriors, Spoelstra put Shaun Livingston on the active list and had Jamaal Magloire wear street clothes last night.

The Heat, back at .500 and in a three-team deadlock for the final two playoff seeds in the East, will finish up its road trip Wednesday night against the Utah Jazz at 9 p.m.

One Month Later...

The first full month of the NBA season is virtually over, and the Miami Heat currently stands at 8-9. Miami has hovered around .500 for the entire month, but finds itself just out of the playoff picture if the season ended tonight.

First, a little perspective. The Heat won 15 games last season, and to be more than halfway towards last season's win total just one month in the season is a drastic improvement. Miami is playing better than the so-called experts thought them to be. Erik Spoelstra is a rookie coach and has a very young team. This team has also felt the absence of three-point specialist James Jones, a low-post presence and a veteran point guard.

With that being said, President Pat Riley made clear over the summer that anything less than a playoff run would be a disappointment for the Heat. This team cannot continue to trade wins and losses. Miami needs to string a few wins together, and it has only won two consecutive games once this season.

Things are looking up for the Heat, though. Dwyane Wade is playing as well as he has ever played. Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn have proven to be a nice one-two punch at the point guard position. Daequan Cook has been the inconsistent shooter he was a year ago, but has improved his game in defense and rebounding this season. And Udonis Haslem has been adequate at the five, but has seemed liberated in his past two games at the four with a defensive load lifted off of his shoulders.

Will we see Spoelstra's lineup of Chalmers, Wade, Shawn Marion, Haslem and Joel Anthony in the future? I expect so. This lineup gives Miami a defensive presence in Anthony, who has proven his worth this season. But the biggest benefactor of the new move may be Michael Beasley, the second overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
Beasley has played two games off the bench thus far, one good game and one bad game. Therefore, it is difficult to get a gauge on how he will be as a reserve. In theory, this move looks to be very strong for the Miami Heat. Beasley will be playing alongside the second unit, with players like Quinn, Cook, Yahkouba Diawara and Jamaal Magloire. In other words, he will not be taking shots away from anyone. Moreover, he would be the go-to while Wade is on the bench, providing points where they would otherwise be scarce.

On the other hand, Beasley was arguably the most talented player in the Draft Class of '08. Spooelstra is looking for him to be more than a sixth man. Beasley may find himself as a starter later on this season, especially with Marion trade rumors heating up. The question for Spoelstra would then be whether Beasley is tailored for the small forward position. Is he quick enough to guard the likes of LeBron James, Paul Pierce, Tayshaun Prince and Rashard Lewis? It would be difficult for me to see Beasley guarding those threes, but I had difficulty seeing Antoine Walker guarding those players during Miami's championship run in 2006. Then-coach Riley used James Posey off the bench as a defensive stopper. Spoelstra, an heir to Riley, may try to emulate that with Beasley role-playing Walker and Jones role-playing Posey.

December should figure to be a pick-me-up month for the Heat. Spoelstra's team will rest 18 of the 31 days in the year's final month, and will only have two sets of back-to-backs. Miami plays Golden State (twice), Charlotte, Memphis, Milwaukee and Chicago in December, all of whom have identical or worse records than the Heat. With the possible return of Jones before we all have to buy a new calender, maybe Miami could find itself a few games above .500 going into 2009.

The Heat is still well in the playoff hunt, just a half-game behind New York for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. If Miami is able to stay healthy over the next few weeks, they could surprise a lot of teams. Marion may be traded, but I would not take anything with more than a grain of salt with any of these rumors until the trade is made official.

Iffy Call Overshadows Loss

If you talked to Dwyane Wade after Miami's 97-96 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, he would not have talked about what his team did wrong. He would talk about an iffy call that may have tipped the game in the balance last night.

"It was [expletive]," Wade said of the controversial call.

With the Heat down by one with 7.6 seconds to go, Baron Davis made a desperation pass in fear of getting called for a five-second violation. Wade stole the ball in midair and threw the ball towards Udonis Haslem, who was in position for a wide-open dunk. Referee Courtney Kirkland inadvertently exhaled into his whistle as Wade fell into him and onto the scorers' table.

The Clipper crowd cheered when it appeared that Wade had stepped out of bounds after gaining possession. Ultimately, the officiating crew granted Wade with the steal and gave Miami the possession on an in-bounds pass. For Miami, the breakaway scoring opportunity was lost, and the win would have to come by harder.
The Clippers wisely used a foul the team had to give, giving Miami another in-bounds pass with just 2.9 seconds to play. The ball was given to Wade, and once the L.A. defense collapsed on him, he was forced to throw up a desperation three at the buzzer that did not even hit the rim.

"We won the game," Wade said. "And they took it away from us."

Under League rules, the Heat has no path to protest this call.

"Yeah, it's tough," Haslem added. "But there's a lot of things we could have done differently before that last play."

Haslem is right. The Heat once had a six-point lead in the final quarter, before letting L.A. go up by as many as eight just minutes later. Miami should not have lost to a 3-13 Clippers team without Chris Kaman. This should not have been a one-point game for Miami, it should have been a double-digit win for the Heat.

Shawn Marion did not look like the star he is. He looked like a ghost. The four-time NBA All-Star shot just one-for-six from the field for five points and turned the ball over five times. Marion did have nine rebounds, but Erik Spoelstra needs Marion to be more than a rebounding force.

Daequan Cook shot just 3-of-11 from the field in 21 minutes off the bench. Cook is a streaky shooter, so missing shots will be part of the game for him sometimes. However, Cook can drive to the rim as the defense is running towards him. If Cook just took a step or two closer to the basket, his percentages of making the shot would have gone up exponentially.

Miami's interior defense may have done enough to slow down Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal, but it let rookie Al Thornton and newcomer Zach Randolph do everything they wanted to last night. Thornton had 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 11-of-14 from the free-throw line. Randolph, meanwhile, also added 27 points with 13 rebounds. Marcus Camby added 12 points and 12 rebounds, a double-double.

Spoelstra went with his lineup from Friday's win against the Suns, with Joel Anthony starting at the five. Anthony had three rebounds and two blocks in 19 minutes. Anthony was kept on the bench due to early foul trouble, a frequent obstacle for the 6-foot-9 center this season.

Michael Beasley played very well as a reserve last night, finishing with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and three-of-four shooting from downtown in 27 minutes. Beasley scored 17 points in the second-quarter, two shy of the franchise record shared by Tim Hardaway and Sherman Douglas. I would have liked to see more of Beasley in the second half, who only got 10 minutes of playing time after intermission. He had his foul trouble, but his scoring would have helped Miami in the fourth quarter.

Haslem continued to appear more comfortable as a power forward. The Miami native had 18 points, six rebounds and three blocks in 42 minutes for the Heat. Wade was sensational (again) with 26 points on 12-of-21 shooting to go along with 11 assists, six rebounds and three steals. Mario Chalmers added 11 on four-of-nine shooting for the Heat, again one game below .500.

Miami starts the last month of 2008 Monday against the Golden State Warriors at 10:30 p.m. The Heat will then finish up its five-game West coast swing against the Utah Jazz Wednesday at 9 p.m.

Flash Blows By Superman

It was the first time the Miami Heat and the Phoenix Suns met since the blockbuster trade that sent Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami in exchange for Shaquille O'Neal. But if you asked Dwyane Wade, that's not the reason he was motivated last night.

“We got beat by 40 points a couple nights ago,” Wade said during his halftime interview. “We didn't play with no heart, no tenacity. So it wasn't about us playing Shaq, it was about us getting a win.”

Wade and the young Heat took a tremendous step forward by handily defeating the Suns 107-92 after Portland blew out Miami only two nights earlier. After two poor shooting nights, Wade made a statement last night with a season-high 43 points on 15-of-24 shooting and 11-for-12 shooting from the free-throw line to go along with six assists and three rebounds. Steve Nash did not play for the Suns with a bruised thigh, but Phoenix was still the favorites without its star point guard.

The first quarter was decisive for Miami. Wade had 12 points on five-of-seven shooting for Miami in the first stanza of play to lead the Heat to a 32-19 advantage at the end of one. Miami's lead stayed around 13 for the rest of the game. A third-quarter run for the Heat put the lead up to 19, but the Suns was able to make it an 11-point game going into the final quarter of play. Fortunately for Miami, Dwyane Wade and Co. were able to close out the game in the fourth quarter.

Wade got to the rim at will and seemingly did everything he wanted to do against Raja Bell, one of the League's better defenders. But it wasn't the drives to the basket that surprised me. Wade also shot very well from mid-range and even went all the way out to the three-point line to score. I would have to strain to think of the last time I saw Wade shoot this well in his entire career. This young man is playing as good as anybody in the League and has been playing spectacular basketball since the Olympics.

A lot of credit has to go to Wade, but Erik Spoelstra also made some shrewd moves for Miami. He went with a lineup of Mario Chalmers, Wade, Marion, Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony, a move to beef up Miami's front-line against Amare Stoudemire and O'Neal. Fortunately for Miami, Stoudemire was about as active as Mark Blount, with only six rebounds in 33 minutes. But this team was also able to hold O'Neal down.

Spoelstra had Anthony front O'Neal the entire game. The bad side of fronting a center is that if the pass into the post goes over Anthony's head, then that center will have an easy dunk every single time. However, the Suns could not get a pass into the post, which led to 14 turnovers for Phoenix in the first half alone. Moreover, O'Neal never got into an offensive rhythm, forced to score most of his points on offensive rebounds. Throughout the game, O'Neal never got to the free throw line nor had an assist.

Spoelstra was also able to minimize Stoudemire's and O'Neal's impact defensively. The Heat incessantly exploited Phoenix's poor pick-and-roll defense, which led to open lanes to the basket and open shots from the field. Coming off of a bad defensive night and a bad offensive night, Miami played as well as the could have against a strong team in the West.

Spoelstra's move to shift some of the heavy lifting over to Anthony also freed up Haslem. The 6-foot-8 Miami native looked more comfortable at the four, and had 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds.

Jamaal Magloire also returned briefly, playing a little over two minutes in his first game of the season. The 6-foot-11 Magloire will provide help in the future against the bigger centers, with the Heat's next game against the 7-foot Chris Kaman and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Could we see Beasley off the bench in the future? Yes. Spoelstra's move to start Anthony should have been enacted against the Rockets last week. With that being said, I am not sure I would only give Beasley 13 minutes of playing time. He could not have guarded Stoudemire, but what is wrong with him at the three, guarding Matt Barnes and Grant Hill? Beasley missed all of his five field goal attempts and ended up scoreless, but battled for rebounds last night, something we have not seen out of the kid in a while.

Five players scored in double figures for Miami. Marion had 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists against the team he played with for over eight seasons. Chalmers was a pest on both sides of the court. On the defensive end, the rookie point guard had five steals and even managed to rattle Bell a bit. Offensively, Chalmers had 13 points on five-of-seven shooting from the field and three-for-four from downtown. Daequan Cook was a big help off the bench for Miami, with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting in 28 minutes.

The Heat, 1-1 on its five game West-coast swing, will visit the L.A. Clippers tonight at 10:30 p.m.

Pitiful Performance in Portland

The NBA season is 82 games long. There are going to be nights when shots are just not falling down. That was the case for the Miami Heat last night, when Miami sunk below .500 for the first time since Nov. 1 in a 106-68 spanking. 

What is understandable were the constant clanks at the rim for Miami. What is not understandable was its relaxed defense. Throughout the night, there were missed defensive assignments, uncontested cuts to the basket and wide open shots from beyond the arc. Portland shot nearly 50 percent from the field and had six players register in double figures. When a team is having an off night, it should rely on its defense to at least keep the game competitive. 

This game was over before it even started. The Trail Blazers jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter. Portland had a 20-point lead by the end of the first quarter, and the Miami Heat was never able to even bring it down to single digits. When a team is poor on the offensive end and pathetic on the defensive end, that team gets embarrassed. Last night was no different. 

Channing Frye and LaMarcus Aldridge led the way for Portland, with 17 points and 16 points, respectively. Michael Beasley was no match for the bigger Frye or Aldridge, and ended up getting in early foul trouble (again). Shawn Marion, who missed the game to attend the funeral of his great uncle, would have been useful on defense. 

A way to hide Beasley's defensive deficiencies would be to move him over to the three. In stead of starting Yakhouba Diawara in place of Marion, Coach Erik Spoelstra could have started Joel Anthony at the center position, moved Udonis Haslem over to the four and Beasley over to the small forward position. Small forward Nicolas Batum did score 15 points for Portland, but he is more of a three-point specialist than anything. 

Beasley was the only rotation player who shot reasonably well from the field. The 6-foot-9 rookie out of Kansas State had 14 points on 7-of-18 shooting. Beasley attacked the basket and even soared for a highlight-reel dunk in the third quarter, but the same could not be said for attacking the glass. Beasley only had four rebounds in 30 minutes for Miami. 

Miami's rebounding was a big problem again. The Blazers won the battle of the boards easily, with a 55-28 advantage. Haslem and Dwyane Wade had six rebounds apiece for Miami, but the lack of height was evident last night. Pat Riley cannot just sit back and hope that Jamaal Magloire will be the answer to his problems. He has to get someone in there who can defend and rebound. 

Wade, who came off of a 7-for-23 shooting against Houston, was not much better last night. The 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette shot just 5-for-14 from the field to score 12 points. Wade did have six boards, six assists and five steals, but there is a reason why the Heat managed just 68 points: its go-to guy had another off night. 

The only player who shot above 50 percent from the field for Miami was Marcus Banks. In 22 minutes, Banks shot five-of-six from the field for 11 points. Banks also had four rebounds and one steal, but Rudy Fernandez nailed him on a back-door cut for a layup. Spoelstra can not single out Banks for this, since virtually every Heat player played bad defense. 

Still, Banks made the most of his garbage minutes. And it could not have come better at a time for the point guard when both Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn had poor shooting nights. But will this be enough for Spoelstra to put Banks back in the rotation? One game is not enough, but Miami's rookie coach may give Banks more playing time Friday against his former teammate Steve Nash and the rest of the Phoenix Suns. 

On a lighter note, Shaun Livingston got his first minutes of action in nearly a month last night. The 6-foot-7 point guard scored two points on one-for-two shooting from the field in seven minutes. 

The Heat is still in the playoff picture, tied with three other teams for the eighth seed in the East. However, Miami would face off against the Boston Celtics were the season to end today, due to the Heat's superior conference record against Philadelphia and New York. But after the worst loss of the season, the Heat are just going to have to put this loss behind them and focus on the Suns Friday night.