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.