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.
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