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.
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