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.
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