Toronto, with a record coming into the game of 2-7, was not as easy of an opponent as their record shows; as they were riding an emotional high coming off of a big win in Orlando the night before. Although the Heat started the game strong and kept the offensive intensity all game, they saw 10 double digit leads evaporate in the first half.
This trend continued, and with the Heat leading 73-55 in the third quarter they allowed Toronto to go on a 16-3 run and get within five points. Yet the Heat stayed together, did not give up, and built the lead back up to ten points going into the fourth quarter. Toronto got as close as four points with 6 and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, but Miami went on a 12-2 run to put the game away.
Dwyane Wade led the team on the offensive end. Wade drove to the hoop every chance he got and got fouled often, finishing the night with 31 points on 11 for 16 shooting from the floor, along with 8 rebounds and 2 assists. LeBron James played well as a distributor for the Heat once again, driving and dishing to the open teammates, and finishing with 23 points and 11 assists.
The Heat got offensive contributions from many players, as James Jones came off the bench to add 14 points, and Bosh - struggling with foul trouble all game therefore only playing 22 minutes - added 12 points against his former team. Udonis Haslem came off the bench and had his second straight double-double, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
This game saw the first big lineup change for the Miami Heat, as Zydrunas Ilgauskas started at center in place of Joel Anthony. According to head coach Erik Spoelstra, this was done in attempt to open up the floor more for the drives of Wade and James. It worked out well, mainly because Ilgauskas is a much better shooter than Anthony, which he proved by hitting his first six shots of the game and finishing with 12 points.
“He gives a lot of room for D Wade and myself because a lot of guys are afraid to leave him on the perimeter, or put their bodies in front of us because of how well he can shoot the ball,” James said of Ilgauskas. “You could see that tonight. We kept their bigs in a bind either to put two on the ball and, if they did, D Wade turned the corner a few times.”
While it was not a big win, a win is a win and the Heat will take it. They will continue learning from every game, and work on improving for the long run.
“Not every game is going to end up in a blowout,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Being in a situation like that in the 4th quarter where you have to execute and get stops, is probably a good thing.”
“We cannot go into games thinking about blowouts,” Wade said. “We have to understand that teams are going to give us their best shot. We have to win ballgames and that is what we did tonight."
The Heat face a tough opponent on Wednesday when the Phoenix Suns come to town, and will have to work to defend the excellent point guard Steve Nash.
No comments:
Post a Comment