Heat Can't Find Gold in Denver

When the Miami Heat flew to Denver to play the Nuggets, the team must have been happy that Denver's leading scorer, Carmelo Anthony, was out with a fractured hand.

Maybe a little bit too happy.

That was the case Wednesday night against Denver. From the get-go, Miami played atrocious defensive effort and allowed 59 points in the first half against a team without its leading scorer. A couple of standoff second-half quarters ultimately ended with a 98-107 loss at the Pepsi Center, an arena Miami hasn't won in since 2002.

Not even the commentating of Hall-of-Famer Dick Vitale could get the Heat to play with some effort, as Denver constantly took Miami defenders off the dribble and took wide open jumpers. The Nuggets also employed a full-court type of offense. The Nuggets outscored Miami in fastbreak points, 35-13. While the Heat is a half-court team, there is no excuse why the players could not get back on defense. Miami's roster is filled with young, athletic guys that should be able to run to the other side of the court quickly. Unfortunately, Linus Kleiza, Chauncey Billups and J.R. Smith scored 21 points each, mostly off of defensive breakdowns on Miami's part. For the second consecutive game, the Heat has allowed 30 points from beyond the arc.

Simply put, Miami's effort wasn't there. The Nuggets out-hustled the Heat, highlighted by a second-quarter sequence in which Denver grabbed two offensive rebounds before getting a three-pointer. There weren't any defensive rotations, and there were too many times when a Nugget had an easy two points. Joel Anthony got into early foul trouble (he had two fouls in the first 44 seconds of play), only to have Jamaal Magloire commit five fouls in 11 minutes of play.

The closest the Heat got in the second half was cutting Denver's lead to three in the third quarter off a Shawn Marion hook shot. The Nuggets came right back and strung together eight unanswered points. Whenever the Heat would get the lead to five or six points, Denver would just make a mini-run and it was back to square one.

There were some silver linings in the game, though. Dwyane Wade had 31 points on 13-of-23 shooting and two blocks last night. Wade did give Vitale the "dipsy-doo dunkaroo" he promised the ESPN announcer before, but his highlight of the night came off a contested turnaround three-point shot as the shot-clock expired early in the third quarter. The 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette did, however, finish below his average in both rebounds and assists, only made it to the free-throw line four times and turned the ball over four times. Wade's backup, Daequan Cook, did not play Wednesday night after his knee bruise against San Antonio, leaving Wade to play 45 minutes. Coach Erik Spoelstra went really small, with a backcourt of Chris Quinn and Mario Chalmers, but the rookie coach couldn't leave that tandem on the court for too long.

The fifth pick of the 2003 NBA Draft only had a deuce through the first 12 minutes of play. The Nuggets followed the lead of other recent Heat opponents and doubled Wade constantly. Fortunately for Wade, Joel Anthony's two quick fouls gave way to Michael Beasley early on. The second pick of the 2008 NBA Draft had 10 points in the first quarter alone. Beasley's offensive aggression, therefore, gave Wade more room to operate. The 6-foot-9 forward out of Kansas State got in foul trouble later on and only scored two points after the first quarter.

Shawn Marion continued to assert himself offensively, scoring 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds and two steals. I liked that the 6-foot-7 forward out of UNLV looked to create his own shot, something we have not seen from Marion in a long time. And even though Denver did run a fast-break offense, most of Marion's points came in the half-court setting. A good thing about Miami's offense was that it did not get caught up in the fast style of the Nuggets.

Mario Chalmers added 12 for Miami, and hit two of four shots from downtown last night (he also had a career-high seven turnovers against Billups). Udonis Haslem added 10 on 5-of-10 shooting, thriving off of open looks as the defense sucked into the paint on Wade's drives. The Heat's problem wasn't the offense, though. Miami put in a respectable 97 points. The Heat's problem was its defense, which was non-existent, especially in the first half.

If this loss has proved anything, it is that Miami cannot come into games thinking that it will be a cakewalk. Hopefully, this team will not come out lackadaisical Friday night against Sacramento. And 1-3 in the month of January, this is a game the Heat needs badly. After Friday's meeting with the Kings, the Heat goes down to Los Angeles to face off against the Lakers.


Heat News

In my last post, I stated that Heat guard Shaun Livingston was released after Monday's loss to San Antonio. That is essentially true; Miami has traded Livingston to the Memphis Grizzlies and cash for a conditional 2012 second-round pick. The pick is protected until the last five picks of the '12 Draft, meaning Memphis would need to be one of the five best teams in 2011-12 for the Heat to get the pick. The move puts the Heat about $400,000 below the luxury tax because Livingston was traded before the NBA's guarantee deadline.

Hours after Memphis acquired the lanky 6-foot-7 guard, the team released him.

The added luxury-cap flexibility on this deal has Alonzo Mourning's name written all over it. The longtime Heat center knows that the Heat is a rebuilding team, but doesn't want to end his career limping off the court, even if it was better than being carried off a stretcher.

Jamaal Magloire's contract, meanwhile, became guaranteed for the rest of the season.

Heat forward James Jones said he could return to the active roster as soon as Jan. 12 or somewhere around that time. Jones has been rehabbing for the past few months after undergoing wrist surgery on his shooting hand in October.

Daequan Cook is expected to return against Sacramento.

Heat Can't Spur to Victory

Get back Shawn Marion, and his shot? Check.

Dwyane Wade and Michael Beasley (finally) look like a tandem of the future? Check.

Hold Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to sub-par games? Check.

Sweep the San Antonio Spurs for the 2008-09 season? Well...


The Miami Heat was close but no cigar Monday night against the championship-contending San Antonio Spurs. Miami was right in the game for about 46 minutes of the game before a late surge by the Spurs put the nail in the coffin against the Heat, leading to a 91-84 loss at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Shawn Marion's transition dunk with 44 seconds left in the third quarter tied the game at 60 apiece. But Matt Bonner made a three-pointer 13 seconds later to push the lead back up to three. After a poor offensive play for Miami that resulted in an errant hook shot attempt by Jamaal Magloire, Manu Ginobili's driving layup just before the buzzer sounded made it a five-point game heading into the final stanza of play.

The Heat was quickly able to tie the score, off of a jumper by Beasley and a triple by Chris Quinn. From then on, the San Antonio lead always stayed between three to five points, with Miami missing on several opportunities to cut into the deficit.

With 96 seconds to go and Miami down 81-84, Wade stole a pass by Tony Parker and looked for a transition bucket. He managed to get his layup attempt over Parker, but Ginobili came out of nowhere and repelled the shot to the half-court line. Roger Mason hit a jump shot six seconds later to extend the lead to 86-81 and all but diminish the Heat's morale. Beasley would only score again on the Heat, on a three-pointer with just 13 seconds left.

Even before the blocked shot, it wasn't Wade's night. He missed 16 of 26 field goal attempts, made it to the free throw line five times and turned the ball over five times. The 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette was constantly doubled after a pick-and-roll. Wade did have 12 assists, but his teammates could've shot better from the field.

Udonis Haslem, who frequently sets picks for Wade, converted on only four of ten shots from the field. Magloire was zero-for-five from the field, hardly showing any offensive upgrade over Joel Anthony. And Marion missed all three of his attempts from downtown.

That's not to say that Marion didn't have a good game. He had one of his better offensive games, with 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Marion was really aggressive with the ball, but also converted on a couple of jump shots.

Miami's too rookies also showed up to play last night. Mario Chalmers looked to be more aggressive with the ball after going cold from beyond the arc, finishing with nine points on four-of-seven shooting, five assists, no turnovers and a nice block on Spurs forward Bruce Bowen. Michael Beasley, meanwhile, finished with a double-double of 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 12 rebounds in just 30 minutes. As I mentioned, Wade and Beasley looked like the duo of the future for the Heat. Having two offensive weapons on the court makes things tougher for the opposing team.

But that gets to the reality of it all. The Heat is rebuilding, looking to form that chemistry between Wade and Beasley. The Spurs have a goal of winning an NBA Championship, a plan San Antonio has had for the past decade.

The three-point shooting by the Spurs hurt the Heat the most. In total, San Antonio had 30 points from downtown. Matt Bonner and George Hill each knocked down three triples for the Spurs. If you don't follow basketball closely, you probably haven't heard of those two. But it was the role players who did the most damage from beyond the arc.

Inside the arc, Tim Duncan had his way with Anthony and Magloire, finishing with 19 points and nine boards, four of which were offensive rebounds. Anthony didn't know Duncan's moves and Magloire wasn't quick off his feet. I wouldn't have minded to see Udonis Haslem on the 6-fott-11 power forward out of Wake Forest a little bit more. Haslem has guarded Duncan in for the past few years and could've brought that knowledge, something Anthony simply didn't have. He's giving up three inches and 25 pounds to the four-time NBA champion, but he would've contested every shot.

The Heat has lost three of its last five heading into the start of a seven-game road trip. All those losses came against either Cleveland, Orlando or San Antonio, three of the League's dominant teams. But each game had a fourth quarter full of missed opportunities. Coach Erik Spoelstra will try to get his team ready against the Denver Nuggets Wednesday night at 9 p.m. on ESPN, with Dick Vitale commenting. Carmelo Anthony is not expected to play, with a broken bone in his shooting hand.

Injury Report

Daequan Cook left the game in the second quarter after bruising his left knee. X-rays were negative, but Cook did not return and was held out of today's afternoon practice. He is listed as a game-time decision for Wednesday's game.

A spokesperson for the Heat announced earlier today that the team had released Shaun Livingston, the 6-foot-7 guard originally drafted No. 4 overall in 2004. Livingston is still recovering from a gruesome knee injury he sustained in Feb. 2007 that left him with three torn ligaments and a dislocated kneecap.

I, for one, don't think this was purely a salary-cap move. Some were envisioning a point guard future of Chalmers and Livingston. But the lanky guard hasn't shown that he still has promise in the limited minutes he has received, with reduced mobility and confusion. But this was, surely, also a salary-cap issue. If President Pat Riley released the player whom he wanted to, it would probably be Mark Blount, but his contract is so bloated that it makes a buyout difficult. Livingston's contract only guarantees him $370,000 this season, keeping the Heat below the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax. The vacant spot on Miami's roster can be filled by two-time Defensive Player of the Year Alonzo Mourning, who has spoke of his willingness to return to the Heat.

Dorell Wright will not travel with the team during the seven-game road trip after surgery in November to clear loose cartiledge from his knee. James Jones, however, will travel with Miami. Spoelstra has been mum on whether the three-point specialist will get off the injured list during the trip.

Heat Escape Late Against Nets

Coming off a disheartening fourth quarter performance against the Orlando Magic Friday night, a Miami Heat fan would have hoped that the team would play like a bat out of hell and run away with against a Devin Harris-less New Jersey Nets team.

Well, things don't always go as planned.

The Nets went up by as many 16 in the first quarter. New Jersey was getting everything it wanted, while Joel Anthony had Miami's lone field goal over the first 5:40 of play. But this young Heat team came all the way back and completed its biggest comeback victory of the season.

Miami slowly but surely cut into the Nets lead, eventually cutting the deficit to two at the end of three quarters of play on a three-pointer by newcomer Yakhouba Diawara, who finished with a season high 19 points. Coach Erik Spoelstra had his team withstand the run, but it would take 12 more minutes of good basketball for the Heat to come away with a win.

Or 17.

Miami and New Jersey see-sawed the lead throughout the final period in regulation, but Dwyane Wade made two free throws to put the Heat up, 85-83 with just 32 seconds left. It seemed like Miami would win it when Wade blocked a potential game-tying layup by Vince Carter with 17 seconds left. New Jersey retained possession, however, and Keyon Dooling made a floater with eight seconds left to tie the game. Wade missed a jump shot just inside the arc as the buzzer sounded. The game would go into overtime.

Wade and rookie Michael Beasley did it all for Miami early on in the extra period. After Beasley converted Miami's first two field goals of overtime, the NBA's leading scorer took it in his own hands. Wade made a bank shot while taking contact from New Jersey's Yi Jianlian. Wade completed the three-point play, and the Heat would take a 96-88 advantage with just 37 seconds left to go.

The Nets managed to make one late last run, cutting the lead to two with just 10 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Dooling after Wade had missed his pair just moments ago. But Miami's two rookies, Mario Chalmers and Beasley, made three key free throws to give the Heat a 101-96 victory.
Wade finished with 29 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and four blocked shots.Three blocked shots came in the fourth quarter and overtime, highlighted by a block on Brook Lopez's attempted dunk. The 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette did shoot 8-for-23 from the field and committed four turnovers, but made it to the free throw line 17 times, converting 13 of them. Wade had two points on one-of-four shooting through the first quarter, but delivered when it mattered for Miami.

Leading rebounder Shawn Marion was in street clothes against New Jersey. The four-time NBA All-Star suffered from back spasms early Saturday morning and the Heat medical staff decided that it would be best for Marion to sit out on the second night of a back-to-back. He is expected to be available Monday night against San Antonio.

Sophomore Daequan Cook started in place of Marion, and finished with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting and three-of-seven shooting from beyond the arc. Cook fouled out after 38 minutes of play, but it was Diawara and Beasley who got the most minutes due to Marion's absence.

And they both delivered.

The French-born reserve made five of eight attempts from downtown and grabbed five boards, keeping Miami in it while Wade was off with his shot. Additionally, Diawara spent a lot of time on Nets star Vince Carter, who struggled through a 5-of-21 shooting, five turnover night. The second overall pick in last June's NBA Draft, meanwhile, logged a career high 41 minutes. Beasley didn't look timid or confused, he just played basketball. It worked out well for the first-round rookie, who finished with an economical 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, seven rebounds, two steals and a late block on Lopez.

While Miami shot just 40.8 percent from the field, Spoelstra's supporting cast did a lot for the Heat. Udonis Haslem grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for the Heat. Chalmers had six rebounds, five assists, two steals and late free throws that iced the game. Chris Quinn was back as the backup point guard and finished with seven points on three-of-five shooting and only one turnover in 18 minutes of action.

Even against a below-.500 team without its leading scorer, this was a big win for the Heat. After going 1-2 over its last three games, Miami needed this win before a Monday night meeting with San Antonio before going on a seven-game road trip. Though it wasn't always aesthetically pleasing, the Heat got the job done. And that's all that matters.

Wade Pulls Disappearing Act

Fresh off receiving Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors, Dwyane Wade was doing it all for Miami. He had 33 points on 16-of-22 shooting through three quarters and was the sole reason the Miami Heat was keeping it a battle with the Orlando Magic.

But then, Wade missed his last seven field goals and went scoreless in the fourth quarter, and the Heat only scored 11 points in the final 12 minutes of play en route to a 86-76 loss in a possible playoff preview.

This time, Wade's teammates were not there for him like they were against Cleveland. Mario Chalmers, who shot six-for-seven from downtown just three nights ago, shot one-for-seven from downtown tonight and 1-for-11 overall. Shawn Marion did not continue to be more aggressive with the ball, instead going one-for-five from the field for just four points.

Wade started a fourth quarter in which Miami was down two on the bench. Coach Erik Spoelstra usually has his star guard rest at the commencement of the fourth quarter, but broke from that in the home game against Cleveland. Spoelstra, however, stuck with his usual rotation and watched Orlando jump out to a quick five-point lead early on.

Even with Wade in the game, Miami's offense either hoisted up a prayer or turned the ball over. By the midway point of the fourth quarter, Hedo Turkoglu extended Orlando's lead to eight on a pair of free throws. And while Daequan Cook hit a three-pointer with 5:30 remaining to make it a 72-76, Miami couldn't get much offense after that. Orlando shot 32 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, but its defense simply stifled the Heat.

It is beyond my knowledge why Spoelstra did not put in Michael Beasley after seeing Wade struggle. Orlando did a good job of defending the pick-and-roll, and closed out nicely to open shots by Udonis Haslem and Cook. Why wouldn't Spoelstra put another offensive threat on the court to make things easier for Wade? Beasley's offense would have been useful in Miami's fourth-quarter scoring drought.

Beasley finished with eight points on four-of-nine shooting in 13 minutes.

Udonis Haslem had 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting and eight rebounds, but his shot went cold late in the game. Wade never forced anything in the final stanza of play, and found Haslem for open looks. Haslem didn't deliver, and maybe Wade made a mistake by deferring to his teammates so much.

Cook was the only other Heat player to score in double figures, with 10 points on four-for-nine shooting. Cook has worked hard to get the "streaky" label off him as a shooter this season. Chalmers, however, will have to keep that label with him, after he followed a great night with a deplorable one.

Joel Anthony and Jamaal Magloire did a good job on Dwight Howard, holding him to 15 points, five below his season average. Rashard Lewis, however, made Miami pay for leaving him open, with four triples and 17 points in total. And although Turkoglu had a rough shooting night, he did make it to the free throw line eight times. Wade, by comparison, only made two trips to the foul line. Orlando as a whole shot 30 attempts from the line, while Miami only went for freebies 10 times.

Marcus Banks may have gotten the backup point guard role just recently, but he may have given it up tonight. The 6-foot-2 journeyman shot zero-for-two from the field, committed two fouls and turned the ball over two times. With 11 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, Banks fouled Jameer Nelson about five feet away from the three-point line. Only the Heat didn't have a foul to give, and Nelson went to the line for a pair. I know Chris Quinn couldn't get past half-court and couldn't contain Jordan Farmar against the Los Angeles Lakers two weeks ago, but at least he could offer some shooting and steadiness.

The Heat will have little time to regroup after this loss, as the team will fly down to Miami to host the New Jersey Nets. Miami has beaten New Jersey twice, albeit barely both times, this season. And this is a win the Heat needs, with San Antonio coming up next, followed by a seven-game road trip. With Detroit on a five-game winning streak and Atlanta already 10 games above .500, this wasn't a good way to start January for the Heat if they want to go up in the standings.

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.