Dwyane Wade scored 27 and LeBron James 25 as the Miami Heat got out early and used their defense to clamp down on Dwight Howard and beat the Orlando Magic 90-78.
Feb 20, 2012 - The Miami Heat ‘did their thing' in dropping the Orlando Magic 90-78 Sunday night. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James took turns being hot and getting Miami out quick to start both halves, and the Heat used their top five defense to put the clamps on Orlando, holding the Magic to 36 percent shooting to win the game.
The Heat were particulaly effective on the Magic pick and roll, a Hedo Turkoglu specialty. Orlando ran 18 plays labled pick and roll by MySynergySports.com and shot 0-of-12 with three turnovers on those plays. Turkoglu was impacted by this in having a terrible game in his 24+ minutes on the floor: 0-of-4 from the field, no rebounds, three assists, three turnovers and a single point.
Wade took the first shift in scoring for the Heat's star trio, knocking down six of eight shots in a 22-11 start for a 12 point quarter. The Magic clawed back to end the quarter and cut the Heat lead to three, led by J.J. Redick's three-pointer, part of an 11-point opening quarter for himself and an efficient 17 points for the game.
Redick started for Orlando after usual starter Jason Richardson was scratched due to what was termed chest pains before the game. Richardson was advised against playing by the Heat's medical staff, according to reports.
After Wade returned in the second quarter, the Heat went on a 17-2 run to grab the lead for good. Wade scored seven points during his second quarter shift and James pitched in with five as the Heat took a 12-point lead into halftime.
The second half was LeBron's turn, bolting the Heat out of the gates with a 10-point quarter of his own as Miami shot better than 50 percent for the quarter. The Magic made a semi-run a towards the end of the third to cut the Heat lead to nine, but in the last minutes Udonis Haslem grabbed an offensive rebound from a missed Shane Battier three-pointer, sent it back to Battier, who rattled home another three attempt. Then James closed out the quarter by driving and feeding Haslem for an open baseline jump shot with less than two seconds left to give the Heat a 16-point lead at the end of three.
Wade finished the game with 27 points on 13-of-23 shooting, and James missed a triple-double by two assists, finishing with a 25-11-8 line with only two turnovers. The Heat didn't even need the third member of their heralded trio, Chris Bosh, to turn in any more than the eight-point, nine-rebound effort he provided.
One wonders how the Magic, given their struggles in beating Miami on the pick and roll, didn't get All-Star center Dwight Howard more involved in the post, as the big man only recorded six post plays in the game, according to MySynergySports.com, and had 10 attempts overall. Howard ended up with 12 points and 15 rebounds and missed on eight of his 10 free throw attempts.
For more on the Heat, check into Peninsula Is Mightier -- for the Magic, it's Orlando Pinstriped Post.
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Magic Vs. Heat: Miami Starts Fast, Finishes Strong, Beats Orlando 90-78
Feb 20
