Defense, Wade Lead Heat to Second Win

The Miami Heat verses the Orlando Magic had the makings of a great back-and-forth game, but that all changed after halftime.  Miami went on a 14-0 run to start the third quarter and didn’t look back from there on route to a 96-70 rout of the Magic.  
  
In the first half, both teams went to work – Miami with good ball movement and everyone hitting jumpers, and Orlando with Dwight Howard, who got all of his 19 points in the first half.  The game stayed close - the largest lead was nine points (with Miami winning), the game was tied seven times in the half, and there were eight lead changes.  

But Miami came out strong after halftime, with LeBron James hitting a three pointer followed by Dwyane Wade hitting two three pointers.  The Heat stepped up defensively in the third, causing turnovers and bothering the Orlando shooters (who went 0-9 from three point range in the quarter).  They allowed Orlando to score only ten points in the quarter, and forced six turnovers which they turned into easy offense and points in the transition game.  The Heat turned a five point halftime lead into a 24 point lead at the end of the third quarter. 

Miami held Orlando to 30.4 percent shooting, its worst as a team since November 3, 2003, and only five assists in the entire game.  Head coach Erik Spoelstra has been stressing the importance of defense since training camp, and he was very pleased with the results last night.  

"The guys now can't go back on this," Spoelstra said. "They've shown me what we're capable of defensively and I will hold them to this standard now in terms of the effort. The effort was great.”

On the offensive end things were clicking as well.  Wade was busy in many ways – hitting three pointers, driving off of pick-and-rolls, driving and dishing to the open man, and running the floor well.  The Heat’s ball movement was excellent throughout the entire game, as players consistently passed up decent shots to give the ball to a player with an even better shot.  This led to nine different Heat players scoring in the first half, and everyone contributing on the offensive end throughout the game.  

Wade seems to have fully gotten rid of the rust that was there two games ago, and finished with 26 points on 9 for 20 shooting, with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.  James, on the other hand, was more of the point guard and play-maker last night, as he drove and found the open man well.  He finished with 15 points on 6 for 13 shooting, with 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 turnovers (much better from his first two games in which he had 8 and 9).  

Bosh finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.  Udonis Haslem pitched in one as well, with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Running Blog - Miami Verses Orlando

It’s the home opener for Miami as they face off against the Orlando Magic, and the arena is packed and full of energy during the pregame ceremony.  Before the national anthem, Dwyane Wade is given the microphone and addresses the crowd, thanking them for their support and encouraging them to continue giving good support to give the team a good home court advantage.  Wade, as one of the two team captains, was the only player involved in the pregame ceremony.  For the starting lineups, LeBron James was announced first and received a large cheer, second was Chris Bosh, then Joel Anthony, followed by Carlos Arroyo.  Last, and certainly not least, to be announced was Dwyane Wade, and he received the largest ovation. 

First Quarter

To start the game, Bosh has shot three out of the first five shots for Miami; the other two were a missed jumper by Arroyo and fast-break layup by Wade that was blocked by Dwight Howard.  This is the first I’ve seen of Bosh being openly aggressive on the offensive end.  I wonder if it is just a coincidence, or if the team is trying to give the ball to him this game in a way to have it be “his turn” to have a big night (as James had a great offensive game in the first game of the year and Wade had one in the second game).   We’ll see as the game continues.

In the next couple minutes, Wade has been driving and creating space.  He has been doing a little of everything - one time hitting James on a kick-out pass for an open three pointer, another time driving all the way to the hoop and getting fouled, thirdly off a pick and roll for a basket, and lastly in transition for a coast-to-coast layup and the free throw.  Bosh hits a jumper, and with that Miami is winning 15-8 and has gone on a 13-2 run over the middle four minutes of the quarter. 

The next time down the court Wade drives and passes to James, who forgoes shooting a decent shot instead passing to Arroyo, who could have shot a jumper but instead passes to Bosh who hits the open jumper.  With three minutes left in the first Eddie House comes up with a steal and gives it to James, who from a little over half court connects with Wade on a beautiful alley-oop.  Things are going well - there has been good ball movement in the half court offense, and players are beginning to know where other players will be, which is shown from the alley-oop (in the first two games those types of plays have been unable to be completed). 

The Magic go on a 9-0 run to close out the quarter, and defensively the Heat are struggling to stop Howard, who has thirteen points.  This is one of the Heat’s weaknesses, in that they lack a great center who can guard someone of Howard’s caliber. 

Only two times during the quarter did James dribble a lot at the top of the key and take it one-on-one (like he did all the time for the Cavaliers and also in the first game of the season verses Boston when the offense was struggling).  He missed both of the shots he took when he did that, but he has five points and three assists so far.  At the end of the quarter it is tied, 24-24. 

Second Quarter

James drives to the hoop and kicks it out to James Jones (who had a big game against the 76ers) who hits an open three pointer.  Wade starts the quarter on the bench, and with 9:30 left James joins him on the bench.  With 8 minutes left in the quarter Wade drives and passes to Arroyo, who passes up a decent shot and gives it to Udonis Haslem for more-open shot.  Ball movement is excellent so far tonight.  Wade picks up a loose ball, drives the length of the court, hits the layup, and gets fouled.  The hamstring appears to not be giving him any issues at all, Wade is running well in transition and doing a lot of full-court work. 

Two more drives by Wade lead to a pass to Arroyo with the extra pass to Jones for another open three pointer and a pass to Bosh with the extra pass to Arroyo for an open jumper.  It is a 10-2 run for the Heat, and they lead 40-35 with just under six minutes left in the first half.  A pick-and-roll leads to another drive to the basket and two more points for Wade. 

James returns to the game with 4:30 left, and Miami leading 42-39.  James drives and passes to Zydrunas Ilgauskas for the open jumper, which also happened in the first quarter and looks much like it did when the two both played for their former team.  The next play James drives, is double teamed, passes to Wade for a fade-away jumper that goes in and gets fouled/hits the free throw. 

At halftime, Miami is up 51-45.  Wade has 14 points on 5 for 9 shooting, while James has 6 points on 2 for 7 shooting and 6 assists.  Bosh has 8 points on 2-5 shooting and 6 rebounds – after the first couple minutes of the first quarter he did not shoot much the rest of the half, as it was more about driving and hitting the open man on the outside.  Nine players for the Heat scored in the first half, which is a direct result of great ball movement and unselfish play.

On the other side, Dwight Howard has 19 points (and the rest of the Orlando team has 26).  

Third Quarter

To open the second half, James hits a three pointer, and Wade hits two three pointers in a row.  James drives and passes to Bosh, who is wide open with everyone on the Magic paying attention to Wade.  James hits a jumper on a fast break, then the next time down hits a bucket off a pick-and-roll player.  The Heat open the third quarter with a 14-0 run and lead 65-45. 

Wade makes a nice drive, gets past his defender, and goes right at Dwight Howard.  He hits the two free throws and has 22 points, definitely shows little signs of the rust that was there opening night in Boston.  James drives to the hoop and could have shot a jumper but dishes to Haslem in the corner for another assist and more good ball movement.  A fast break leads to a no-look alley-oop pass from Wade to Haslem, and the Heat lead 73-55. 

House airballs a three pointer but Wade gets the rebound and connects on a reverse layup.  House then makes up for it and gets two steals, one of which leads to a coast-to-coast layup for Wade who now has 26 points.  At the end of the third quarter the Heat have blown open the game and are up 79-55.  They did this by stepping up their defensive intensity, which led to good offense in the transition game. 

Fourth Quarter

Wade drives to the hoop and dishes to Jones for another open three pointer in the corner, and Jones now has 9 points.  A couple times early in the quarter Wade has elevated as if to shoot a jump shoot but instead passes to someone else who is more open.  James pulls up for an open jumper off a pick and roll.  Howard fouls out for Orlando with six minutes left in the game, and finishes with 19 points.  He was in foul trouble much of the second half and was unable to score. 

Wade and James are taken out for the game with 3:30 left in the fourth, and House uses that time to hit two three pointers.  The Heat hold Orlando to only 25 points in the second half, and win by a final score of 96-70.  Wade finishes with 26 points on 9 for 20 shooting, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 4 turnovers.  James finishes with 15 points on 6 for 13 shooting, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 turnovers (much better from his first two games in which he had 8 and 9).  Bosh finishes with 11 points on 2 for 9 shooting, along with 10 rebounds. 

Wade Shines in Heat’s First Win

After a lackluster performance on Tuesday night verses the Celtics in which the Heat were rusty and lacked cohesion, Wednesday night in Philadelphia saw a much better Heat team in action verses the 76ers.  The Heat came together, both on offense and defense, and won 97-87.  The game was not as close as the score shows - the Heat were leading 80-54 at the end of the third quarter, but got lazy on defense in the fourth and were outscored by 16 points.  

There were several keys to this win - defense, the transition game, Dwyane Wade stepping up with a strong performance, and James Jones shooting 6 for 9 from three-point range.  The Heat defense was very strong, forcing the 76ers to commit 16 turnovers, which then led to 20 fast break points.  

When it came down to running a half-court offense, Miami was much better in this game than in the game verses the Celtics.  On Wednesday, the Heat had much better spacing between players and very good ball movement.  When Wade or LeBron James drove to the hoop, the 76ers defenders collapsed on them, and they were able to kick the ball out to open shooters.  This led to Jones getting open shots and scoring 20 points, which was important for this victory over the 76ers.  

“Give it up for JJ, really stepping up,” Wade said. 

“JJ was unbelievable today,” James said. 

Aside from Jones having a strong offensive performance, Wade had one as well.  Following a poor performance Tuesday in what was Wade’s first game-speed action all year (he got only three minutes in preseason action), Wade came back strong in the second game of the season. 

After the team watched the video of the Celtics game and discussed it, Wade then watched the game two additional times on his own.  What he took from that, along with the fact of just getting more game time playing in and working the rust off, led to a much better performance.  He finished with 30 points on 10 for 20 shooting, with seven rebounds, four assists, three steals, and only one turnover.  

"I always pride myself on learning from what I did the night before," Wade said. "I got in a comfort zone (tonight), I missed some shots around the basket, but it's coming."

"He was less anxious, letting the game come to him," Spoelstra said.

James also had a good game, finishing with 16 points on 5 for 12 shooting, with six rebounds and seven assists, but also nine turnovers (after having eight in Boston the night before).  Bosh finished with 15 points on 6-12 shooting, seven rebounds, one assist, and only one turnover.  The big three were on the floor together just 25 minutes, but scored 61 points on 18 for 35 shooting.  This was a large improvement from the first game verses the Celtics, in which the big three played 30 minutes together and scored 52 points on 16 for 44 shooting.  

"We're not at our peak, we're not even close," Wade said. "Eventually when it's time to be there, we will."

Next up, the Heat face the Orlando Magic in Miami on Friday night.  This will be a challenge, as Orlando is a good defensive team, much like Boston was.      

Tough Start

October 26, opening night of the 2010 NBA season, has been a date that everyone has been waiting for for months.  It was the most anticipated opening game of the NBA ever, and was hyped to the maximum.  There were over 500 press passes given out, and everyone – coaches, players, media, and fans alike – acted like this was a playoff game, rather than the first game out of 82 of the regular season.  Yet take it for what it is, one game out of 82, and know that the Heat will learn from it and improve greatly in the coming weeks.  

Right from the start of the game it was clear that Miami is rusty and they need to work out some kinks.  The big three of Wade, James, and Bosh need time playing together to work through how to use each other and play off of one another well.  There is little cohesion currently, which was shown last night right from the start when Wade cut to the hoop looking for the ball in transition while James passed it to where he began his cut (on the three point line) and the ball went out of bounds.  This continued much of the game, as Wade, James, and Bosh combined for 15 of the Heat’s 17 turnovers.  

"It's a feel-out process," James said. "When you have so many options, it's something I'm not accustomed to, having that many threats out on the court at the same time."

It was evident that while seemingly healthy (not showing any signs of limping or not being able to go 100%); Wade was very out of form and has some work to get done.  He was held to 13 points, while shooting just 4-16 from the floor.  I, for one, am not worried – I know Wade will bounce back.  He just needs some time playing in real games, at full-speed, to find his rhythm and begin playing as he is capable of playing.  

After Wade gets back in a rhythm, and the team is able to form a cohesive unit, Miami will be virtually unstoppable.  Yet it may take a little time, as everyone on the team knows.  

“I already imagine we’ll be much better tomorrow,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “When we were going through our planning in July and August we knew it wouldn’t necessarily hit on all cylinders right away.”

“This is a work in progress,” James said. “We all know Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Both the players and coaches know it may take some time, and in the NBA season there is plenty of it.  This game last night was just the first of 82 in the regular season, and that is what it should be taken as.  It was just one loss out of many games to play.  

"Sorry if everyone thought we were going 82-0," Wade said. "It wasn't going to happen."
The Heat are downplaying the loss, admitting they were rusty and not fully ready to open the season.  That’s what happens when injuries hit, and all you can do is look forward to getting better and playing the next game.  Miami does not have to wait long, as they play Wednesday October 27 in Philadelphia.  They will take what they learned from the Celtics game and try to work some things out, and will only get better the more they play together.  

“They’re going to be a lot better when we see them again”  Celtics head coach Doc Rivers stated in his press conference following the game.

This is true, and November 11 will see a rematch of the Heat verses the Celtics in Miami. 

Running Blog From Opening Night

With all the hype surrounding tonight’s opening night of the 2010 NBA season, I will be keeping a running blog, much like Bill Simmons of ESPN does during playoff games.  At 7:30pm, the Miami Heat open up their season in Boston verses the Celtics.  

First Quarter –

Both the Heat and the Celtics look very rusty, and are getting off to a slow start.  Wade started the game, got a steal early in the game, went coast-to-coast, but missed the layup.  Nonetheless, Heat fans must be glad to see him running strong and not seeming to be held up by the hamstring at all yet.  After ten minutes of playing time and an extremely slow start, Wade was 0-4 from the field, had three turnovers, one foul, and was replaced by Eddie House.  At the end of a very sloppy first quarter Boston is leading 16-9, and neither team is playing well.  

Second Quarter –

Wade is starting off this quarter much like he played the last one, but two and a half minutes into the quarter he made his first field goal of the season, on a layup made in transition.  A minute later he also made a quick move and drove baseline, getting fouled and making both free throws.  The Heat overall are still not playing well halfway through the second quarter, as in the last 9 minutes of game time they are 2-16 from the floor and have four turnovers.  With just over five minutes left in the quarter, Wade just made a nice defensive play, got a steal at the top of the Boston key, took it the length of the floor, and dunked it.  Although he is not shooting well, it is good to see that Wade can run well and is not hampered by the hamstring.  

Boston has started to take control of the game, hitting open shots and getting to the basket well.  At the end of the first half they are winning 45-30.  This first half has not been what everyone has anticipated, as both team are clearly rusty and are off to a slow start.  Miami’s big three are struggling, as LeBron James has 10 points, Wade has 7, and Bosh has only 4.  

Third Quarter –

Miami has had a lack of rhythm all game thus far, and to switch things up Wade starts the half on the bench.  LeBron takes this time to go to work, and leads the Heat on a comeback.  About halfway through the quarter, LeBron had scored or assisted on the previous 14 Miami points.  Boston had led by as many as 19 points, however at the end of the third quarter they were winning by only six points, 63-57.  

Fourth Quarter – 

Wade begins the quarter sitting out again (beginning to wonder if he is hurting, if Miami is just being cautious of the injury, if Spoelstra feels he is just not yet ready to play significant minutes, or if it is from his slow start).  Halfway through the quarter Wade makes a nice drive to the basket and hits the bucket.  The game continues to go back and forth, and with 1:20 left in the game Miami is using both James and Wade to make key baskets.  In the midst of an 8-0 Miami run leading up to the 1:20 mark, LeBron hit a three, and Wade hit a step-back three on the next time down the floor.  An offensive foul on Boston gave Miami the ball back, James drove to the hoop and brought Miami to within three points, 83-80, with 1:10 left in the game.  That was the closest they would get though, and they ended up losing 88-80.  LeBron James had 31 points, Wade had 13, and Bosh, Haslem, and House each had 8 points.