Heat Flame Out to Yao, Rockets

The Miami Heat have traded wins and losses for its last nine games going into last night's meeting with Houston, and continued that trend last night in a 107-98 loss to the Rockets.

The Rockets stayed in control for the entire game, as Miami's only lead came on a Shawn Marion hook shot to start the game. Houston's lead stayed around 10 points for most of the game from then on. Michael Beasley's driving layup with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter made it a 56-58 game, but Houston then made 11 unanswered points to give Houston some breathing room again. It was a five-point game at the end of the third quarter and a five-point game with 4:23 left to go in the fourth quarter, but for every run the Heat made, Houston had an answer.

The 6-foot-8 Udonis Haslem was no match for the 7-foot-6 Yao Ming, in a match-up between the League's shortest center and its tallest center. Yao had 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and 10-11 from the free-throw line. Additionally, Yao grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out four assists last night.
Erik Spoelstra knew that Yao was going to have a field day last night, regardless of whether he would be single- or double-teamed. A more effective defensive strategy against Yao would be to do what the Detroit Pistons did against Shaquille O'Neal in the 2004 NBA Finals. The 6-foot-9 Ben Wallace looked like a toothpick compared to O'Neal and he filled up the stat sheet. However, the Pistons stayed at home with the rest of the Lakers and were able to dust Los Angeles in five games. The Rockets shot 10-of-19 from beyond the arc, and a lot of those threes were due to Yao passing out of the double-team. If Spoelstra told his perimeter players to stay at home with Ron Artest, Rafer Alston and Aaron Brooks, it would have taken an option out of Houston's offensive arsenal.

Offensively, the evident choice would be to try to get Yao in foul trouble. The Heat attempted 24 three-pointers last night and Yao had three fouls in 35 minutes of action. Now, it was difficult for Dwyane Wade to drive to the rim with Ron Artest playing such good defense on him. The second leading scorer in the League never found his rhythm and missed 16 of his attempted 23 shots. I was surprised at the lack of screens given for Wade. The other players cannot just sit there and watch Wade. They have got to help him out with screens and cuts to the basket.

Marion and Beasley played very well. Marion had 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds in 41 minutes. Beasley had 14 points on 7-of-16 shooting and grabbed five rebounds in 29 minutes. However, neither of them was able to step up and compensate for Wade's off night.

It was a great night for Mario Chalmers, who had a career-high 23 points last night on 7-of-13 shooting and 5-for-10 from downtown. Chalmers also grabbed four rebounds, dished out six assists and collected four steals. Fellow newcomer Yakhouba Diawara also had an impressive night, with 12 points on five-for-six shooting from the field and two steals in 23 minutes.

Haslem struggled with his offense against the imposing Yao, and seemed tired guarding the 7-foot-6 center from China. With Miami's three next games against the 7-foot Greg Oden and Portland, the 7-foot-1 O'Neal and Phoenix and the 7-foot-1 Chris Kaman and the Clippers, Haslem will be doing a lot of heavy lifting this Thanksgiving week.

Joel Anthony provided help off the bench for Haslem, and grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots in just 28 minutes of action. He probably would have played more if he had not committed five fouls last night. While Anthony's defense and rebounding is appreciated, he needs to work on his fouls. An effective game from him will especially be needed with the seven-footers coming up this week.

Erik Spoelstra will try to avoid a loss to drop his team below .500 for the first time since Nov. 1 with a road game against Portland Wednesday night.

Injury Notes

Shawn Marion will not play against Portland Wednesday due to the death of his great uncle. However, he plans to return with the team for Thursday's practice in Phoenix.

Dorell Wright was originally projected to come back Nov. 1, but the date kept getting pushed back. The date will be pushed back even more. The 6-foot-9 forward underwent arthroscopic surgery to clear up loose bodies out of his left knee. Wright had surgery March 3 to repair a meniscal tear in his left knee, but additional work was needed. No timetable has been announced for his arrival.

Six-foot-11 center Jamaal Magloire will travel with the rest of the Heat on its road trip. Magloire banged his left hand in pre-practice Sunday morning and did not practice with the team in the afternoon. Spoelstra said this was not a setback for Magloire, who completed his first full five-on-five practice last Friday. His availability for Wednesday night's game against Portland is unknown.