SB Nation - Udonis Haslem

Game #23: Toronto Raptors (11-15) vs. Miami Heat (11-11)

DolPhanDave — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:41:31 -0000

More photos » by Wilfredo Lee - AP

Yeah...this about sums it up

It isn't often that I don't watch a game. Even when I know the results, and sometimes those results aren't pretty, I'll still watch. This time, however, I wasn't upset that I forgot to set my DVR before heading north to Jacksonville for the Dolphins game.

I kept track of the game for a while on my cell, and even without actually seeing any live game action, two free throws and six turnovers in the first quarter told me all I needed to know. I saw (or read) about Memphis getting to the foul line 17 times before the Heat took their first foul shot, which came with just seconds left in the 1^st quarter.

I had a bad feeling before the game even started though, as I first logged onto Twitter and saw that the Heat's starting small forward was going to be Yakhouba Diawara. Where the hell did that move come from? Spoelstra said after the game that he went with Kooba because he wanted to keep Dorell Wright within his role as the first perimeter guy off the bench, which I can understand.

But we have guys like James Jones and Daequan Cook who could use the minutes much more then Diawara. I think they need to give Cook as many minutes as they can spare because the only way he is going to get better and get out of this funk is by playing through it.

I'm hoping that the Heat use this game as some serious motivation. Immediately following the embarrassing home loss there was a team meeting that was about thirty minutes long. When asked about what was said in the meeting, D-Wade said that he kept quiet and only listened.

Udonis Haslem wasn't as quiet; talking to his teammates about the lack of effort they've put fourth of late, as well as the teams poor record at home. Bet you didn't realize that the Heat were under .500 at home (6-7) and over .500 on the road (5-4).

Looking at tonight's opponent, the Raptors are coming off of one of their better defensive efforts of the season, holding the Houston Rockets to just 88 points on 37% shooting in a 13-point victory. Keep an eye on Chris Bosh, Heat fans. We all know how much Pat Riley loves this guy, and more then likely is going to go after him more then any other free agent.

That being the case, just imagine what it will be like having this amazingly talented and athletic big guy dominating the post area and moving guys around in the paint, creating all kinds of space and lanes for Dwyane Wade to maneuver and score. Yea, I know that its way to early to assume anything...but if Bosh has any kind of inkling about playing in Miami with his boy D-Wade, you better believe that Pat Riley will make it happen.

GAME NOTES

After going 2-2 on a tough west coast road trip, the Heat are 0-2 so far on their 6-game homestand.
Toronto gives up the 2^nd most points in the league, allowing 108.0 points/game but are 6^th in the league in scoring, putting up 104.0 points/game.
On the other hand, Miami is right smack dab in the middle of the pack at points given up, surrendering 98.6. They aren't as good offensively, ranked 22^nd in the association by putting up 97.0.
The Raptors are a perfect 8-0 this season when holding their opponent under 100 points.
The 37 points surrendered by the Heat in the 1^st quarter against Memphis on Sunday was the second most points given up in a quarter this season by Miami. The most? So glad you asked...it was the 43 points scored in the second quarter of the Heat's visit to Toronto on November 20^th.
I wouldn't expect to see Quentin Richardson back in the lineup yet. He is officially listed as doubtful with his strained right hamstring.
For Toronto, guard Jose Calderon (hip) and forward Reggie Evans (foot) are both out.

Tuesday night tipoff from the AAA is set for 7:30.

Phoenix Suns 106, Orlando Magic 103

Ben Q Rock — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:17:06 -0000

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Trailing the Phoenix Suns by as many as 19 points, the Orlando Magic staged a furious second-half rally and took a 4-point lead midway through the 4th period, but faltered from there and lost, 106-103, giving them their first losing streak of the year. Rashard Lewis (24 points) and Mickael Pietrus (a season-high 23) carried Orlando's offense, while Dwight Howard anchored the defense and the glass. But ultimately, the Suns' efficient offensive attack was too much. Steve Nash matched the entire Magic team with 18 assists, scoring 20 points of his own. Amar'e Stoudemire led all scorers with 28 points, including a dunk with 6.9 seconds to play to preserve Phoenix's win.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Magic	95	108.7	50.7%	34.2	33.3	22.2
Suns	93	114.4	53.5%	16.3	25.0	12.9
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

Orlando showed its road-weariness early on, and one long dry spell in the first quarter may have proven to be the difference. Howard made the first of two free throws, but missed the second, which Lewis rebounded. Lewis' ensuing 3-pointer rattled out, but Howard corralled it. Stoudemire stole the ball, fueling a layup by Grant Hill in transition. His shot tied the game at 9.

So that's one possession which resulted in one point for Orlando. For the next 6:37, the Magic had 12 possessions, and did not score on any of them. 6 consecutive misses--all jumpers--followed by 6 consecutive turnovers. By the time Pietrus freed himself for an easy dunk underneath to end the drought, Phoenix had taken a 24-11 lead. No team can afford to come up empty against an offense of the Suns' caliber, and especially one that runs the fast break as well as Phoenix does. Discard that awful Magic stretch and you see they scored 103 points on 83 possessions, for an offensive rating of 124.1. Too bad the 12 abominable ones there do, indeed, count in the final score.

Mistakes late doomed the Magic as well; they weren't isolated. They yielded back-to-back, open, corner three-pointers to Jared Dudley and Jason Richardson, which gave the Suns a 101-99 lead. On some level, you're happy they covered Nash and Stoudemire on the pick-and-roll and forced the kickout. But man, those shots are backbreakers. Moments later, trailing by a single point, Nash coughed the ball up into Howard's hands, giving the Magic a transition opportunity. Backup point guard Anthony Johnson, who scored all 11 of his points in the 4th quarter to keep the Magic in the game (!), dribbled the outlet pass off his foot. The ensuing possession set up Stoudemire's offensive rebound and dunk to seal the game. You'll recall that poor box-outs cost the Magic against the Heat three weeks ago, when putbacks by Udonis Haslem and Michael Beasley gave Miami a narrow, one-point victory.

The theme here, I suppose, is that the tired team made mental errors throughout the game to lose when they might have otherwise won.

I'm sure the media will latch onto Howard's only getting one shot attempt--two minutes into the game!--in 41 minutes and make a big deal of it, especially after a game in which he got only 11 shots in 44 minutes. Fact is, Howard got his touches: 5 turnovers, 17 free-throw attempts, 2 assists, and several other wise passes out of double-teams. The Suns forced the Magic to look elsewhere. The absence of go-to-scorer Vince Carter in the second half due to a sore knee made scoring that much more difficult.

A tough loss to take any time. Orlando split its 4-game Western trip, squandering double-digit leads in three games and having to battle back in another. It's clear that the Magic aren't as sharp now as they were weeks ago, when Jason Williams first took over for Jameer Nelson as the starting point guard and could hardly do wrong. 22 assists, 11 turnovers, and 48.3% eFG% on the trip overall, and 11 assists to 7 turnovers in the last 2 games. The bloom is off the rose a bit, yes?

Orlando has plenty of time to regroup, as it doesn't play again until Monday, and will play 7 of its final 8 games of 2009 at home. The Magic are due to bounce back, but the results of this road trip certainly raise troubling questions. At least it's still December.

Heat kick-off homestand by getting shredded by Dallas

DolPhanDave — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:41:19 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey Boan - AP

The Heat had no answers for Dirk and the Mavs

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After a relatively long layoff for the Heat, and even longer for Heat fans waiting to see their team in person, this game was an absolute let down. I'm not sure which was harder for the Heat, scoring or defending. Either way, it was embarrassing at times for the home team and now Miami has lost 11 in a row to Dallas. If there ever was a game where you see how important Jermaine O'Neal is to this team...this was that game.

The Heat began this game like a team who hadn't played in a while, looking slow and uninspired. They didn't make a field goal until there was 6:24 left in the 1^st quarter, starting the game 0-for-10. That allowed Dallas to get out to a 13-1 lead, putting the Heat in a big hole before the game really got going. By the time the Heat reached double digits in scoring the Mavs already had 24 points. A late 11-4 run by Miami got them back to within 10 points late in the first quarter, but they still ended up trailing by 12 after 1.

The Heat kept their foot on the gas when the 2^nd quarter started, scoring the first 5 points and using a 9-3 run to close the gap to 6. Miami kept on pushing but their defense was a little suspect. More then once the Heat left men unattended in the paint resulting in easy points for Dallas. While he racks up the blocks, Joel Anthony just isn't the defender that Jermaine O'Neal is, mostly due to his positioning. Anthony did finish the first half with 4 blocks, but that would be the same amount he'd finish the game with.

The Heat were able to get the Mavs lead all the way down to 3, but were unable to get over that final hump. Instead, Dallas used a handful of late free throws to push their lead back up to 6 just in time for halftime. Still, after falling behind by 15 points in the 1^st quarter and being without their starting center, the Heat had to be somewhat pleased with where they were at after the opening half.

The 2^nd half got off to a real crappy start. Miami was taking and missing shots from the outside instead of driving with the ball. Dallas was doing what they wanted on offense and a lot of it had to do with Anthony and Beasley looking lost at times on defense. Dallas pushed their lead back up to 15 with 3:24 left in the quarter when Miami went on an 8-1 run and gained some momentum as the 3^rd quarter drew to a close, but a crucial 5-point swing would prove costly. Udonis Haslem missed a jumper that would've gotten the Heat within 6, then Jason Terry promptly hit a tree-pointer at the other end to put the Mavs up 11 heading into the final quarter.

The Mavs started the 4^th quarter the same way they did the 3^rd, outscoring the Heat early to expand their lead even more. 6 straight points with just under 8 minutes left got Miami back within 11, but their defense was playing so poorly that it was hard to imagine any kind of comeback. The telling stat that indicated the Mavs doing whatever they wanted on offense was that they were assisting on almost every basket.

The Heat never got close in the final period, dropping their record to 11-10 and sending a nice crowd at the AAA home very disappointed. I think this game would've been much different if the Heat had Jermaine O'Neal in the lineup. Erick Dampier absolutely dominated down low, scoring 20 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. He also had 2 blocks, but I was more impressed with his foul shooting. A center that can make free throws....what a concept!

GAME NOTES

Miami started the game just 1-of-14 form the field, then followed it up by making 14 of their next 18 to get back into the game.
Udonis Haslem had his best game in a while, going 6-for-6 for 13 points and 4 boards in the first half. His first miss would come on his 9^th shot, and he finished 9-of-10, good for 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Two other Heat players had double doubles, with Mike Beasley coming away with 16 and 11 and Dwyane Wade finishing with 28 and 11. You could tell at halftime that they would both probably end up with dub-dubs; Wade had 8 boards at the half and SuperCoolBeas had 7.
Wade went 0-for-2 from beyond the arc and has now missed 20 of his last 22 three-pointers.
Dorell Wright played 29 minutes but wasn't really a factor. He did miss another dunk though, which is becoming very annoying. I think he's missed a dunk in each of the past 3 or 4 games.
Dallas finished with 30 assists on 38 field goals. That is an amazing stat for the Mavs, and shows that A- the Mavericks are a great passing team with a lot of offensive chemistry and B- the Heat really let Dallas do whatever they wanted on offense.
The Mavericks have now won 6-srtaight games at the AAA. But hey...we've still got rings.
This loss dropped Miami to 6-6 at home this season after starting 4-0. Their last home win was on November 22^nd against the Hornets, 19 days ago.
Where was Jamaal Magloire? Anyone...? Anyone...? Bueller....?

The Heat get a day to think about this one, then they're back in action on Sunday. Memphis will be the opponent with the usual ‘early' tipoff time coming at 6pm.

Game #21: Dallas Mavericks (15-7) vs. Miami Heat (11-9)

DolPhanDave — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:13:26 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

D-Wade was visibly upset when reminded of the Mavs win streak against Miami.

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After a nice refreshing week off, the Heat will finally return to action tonight back at home against the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs are one of the best teams in the league and got even better in their last game when they welcomed back Josh Howard after the forward missed 13 games with a sore left ankle. The Mavs are playing back-to-back games tonight and tomorrow (@ Charlotte), and the Dallas Morning News is reporting that Howard will play in only one of the two games, but its unknown which he'll play and which he'll sit out.

On the Heat's side of things, they could be without two of their starters. Jermaine O'Neal could miss his second straight game while dealing with family issues in South Carolina. He attended the funeral of his uncle on Thursday and could be back in Miami in time to play tonight, but nobody is sure. Even if J-O does make it in time, his minutes could be limited due to him being away from working out with the team all week.

Another likely game-time decision will be Quentin Richardson, who strained his right hamstring at the end of the third quarter of the Heat's win in Sacramento on Sunday. While there is no tear, the Heat intend to keep it that way which is why they are treating Richardson with ‘kid gloves'. I can't say I disagree...I'd much rather be without Q for a game or two instead of a week or two.

A key matchup will be at the power forward position. Dirk Nowitzki is having another great season, averaging 27.0 points and 8.5 boards, and has been even hotter of late. He's cracked 30 points in his last two games (32, 33) and in one of those games had four blocks and a pair of treys. Guarding Dirk will be a great test for Michael Beasley, who has been showing lots of improvement on the defensive side of the floor but will certainly have his hands full with Nowitzki. Of course there is always Udonis Haslem on the bench as an insurance policy, but if we have to put U-D on Dirk it will seriously cut into Beasley's minutes.

GAME NOTES

Outside of the 06 NBA Finals, the Mavericks have really owned the Heat the past several years. Dallas has swept the 2-game season series with Miami in each of the past 5 years (10 straight wins), and have won 16 of 18 overall.

Doesn't it seem like a long time ago that Shawn Marion was playing for the Heat? Not quite; a year ago he was still playing for the Heat. Now...he starts for the Mavericks.

I can't remember ever thinking to myself the night before a Heat game ‘I can't wait to see what Dorell Wright does tonight', until now that is. I'm honestly quite anxious to see how the not so youngster responds after his best game in years.

Dallas has the 10^th ranked offense in the league averaging 101.7 ppg.

The Mavs are 8-4 on the road, averaging 101.1 ppg. The Heat are 6-5 at home and give up 93.3 ppg.

Tipoff from the AAA is set for 7:30 and that place should be rockin' on a Friday night. The Heat haven't played a home game in almost 2 weeks (12 days to be exact), so the fans should have a lot of built up cheering to let out. Lets Go Heat!!

Stats blog #3: Dorell Wright and Q-Rich heading in the right direction

DolPhanDave — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:28:07 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

Yup, Dorell Wright can pass too...

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The last stats blog that I posted a couple days ago was mostly a positive one. Lots of good, encouraging numbers to look at while waiting for the Heat to kick off their nice, long home stand. This time around I've got four guys for us to look at. Two of them are making a big different since being put back in the lineup, and the other two have been struggling a little but not greatly hurting the team.

DORELL WRIGHT

Why am I starting with Dorell Wright? Well to be quite honest, yes he has been playing very well the past few games but that's all that it's been...a few games. It's no certainty that Wright will become an integral part in the Heat's rotation, although the way he has been playing of late may dictate otherwise.

With the Heat desperate to get back to the defensive dominance they showed over the first few weeks of the season, its no shock that Erik Spoelstra is giving D-Wright a shot, and he is making the most of it. Wright played more minutes in each of the last 3 games then any other game this season.

When I was interning with Sun Sports during the 15-win season, I was on and around the court a lot on game days. Something I got used to seeing was Dorell on the floor before anybody else, working on his jumpers. He got better and better, convincing me of his ability to be an unsuspectingly good jump shooter. That was two seasons ago...imagine how much more confident he is in his shot now after working on it that entire time then he was back when I was watching.

In his last three games, Wright has gone 14-of-23 from the field (61%) and hit 3-of-4 from beyond. 2-for-2 from the foul line to go with 11 rebounds (3.6/game), 6 assists (2/game), a steal, a block and some of the best hustle D we've seen in a while. I just hope that he doesn't get lost in the shuffle of players. As high as I've been on James Jones, I'm starting to lean more towards wanting to see Wright on the floor more. He has always been a good defender (long limbed guys usually are) but with the addition of offensive production he could finally begin to show us why he was a 1^st round pick all the way back in 2004. Better late then never? You better believe it!

QUENTIN RICHARDSON

A back injury kept Quentin out of uniform for four games, but he came back healthy and ready to re-claim his position in the starting lineup. I get the feeling that he is starting to understand the importance of being a bit more aggressive on offense, which is key for Q. If you have followed his career at all then you know that Richardson can score, and if we can get ‘offense Q' to merge with ‘defense Q' then we'd have some kind of all-star caliber player on our hands.

In his 4 games since re-claiming the starting SF position, Richardson has shown us that he can indeed be that outside presence most of us envisioned when we first acquired him. He's averaging 14 ppg on 48% shooting, and of his 42 field goals taken, 27 of them are of the three-point variety. 41% from beyond the arc isn't the best percentage, but that is still an average of almost 3 trey/game. Considering that in two of those four games Quentin took double digit three point attempts, it seems that he is starting to understand that getting open on the outside will be a big help for Miami.

Hopefully his good shooting continues beyond the scope of the past four games, as well as his 6.5 rebounds and 2 assists/game. And hey...it wouldn't hurt if he could have 5 steals and 3 blocks every four games as well.

DOWN PRODUCTIVITY

Now I'm not saying that these guys are in the doghouse or anything, but the following players aren't playing nearly as well as they once were this season.

Mario Chalmers- I'm looking at Rio's last four games, as that is when his minutes started going down. The reason for that is because of the lack of offensive production and defensive stinginess coming from the PG position of late, so much so that Dwyane Wade has been manning the point during important phases of the game.

After playing 30+ minutes in 13 of the first 16 games of the season, he has only cracked 30 minutes in 1 of his last 4 games. He is shooting just 9-for-21 in those games (43%) and 5-of-13 from 3-point range (38%). The rest of his numbers are also pretty low for a starting PG: 1.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists are low, as is the 6.8 ppg total. The only plus is the 1.3 steals/game. Chalmers is still young with a whole heap of potential, so I see this as nothing more then a speed bump in the sophomore's progression.

The other guy whose numbers are down is Udonis Haslem. I've got back 6 games on Udonis and everything other then his foul shooting and steals are down when compared to his season average. 8.2 points on 44% shooting and just 4.2 rebounds are nowhere near the numbers of U-D for the most part of the young season. If you recall, just last season it took Udonis several months to get his long-range jumper to fall with its normal consistency, so I have no doubt that he'll bounce back sooner then later.

Preview: Heat at Kings

Ziller — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:00:16 -0000

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THE OPPONENT

For all the worry about the toughness of this stretch (guilty!), Miami actually isn't that much better than the Kings. The Heat come in 10-9, with a points differential of -0.37 and an SRS of +0.34, 14th in the league. The Heat offense is ranked 18th, the Heat defense is ranked 18th. This has been a thoroughly average team so far.

Our Kings, of course, are 9-9, with a points differential of +0.11 and an SRS of -0.30, 15th in the league. Sacramento hosts the 6th-ranked offense and the 23rd-ranked defense. This match-up is really, really even. On paper, the Kings have the advantages: ARCO Arena is the site, and starting Heat center Jermaine O'Neal is out. O'Neal has had a bit of a renaissance season, playing 32 minutes a game, and contributing 14/8/1.2 for the Heat. His back-up is Joel Anthony, who is a great shotblocker but happens to do most other things quite poorly. Miami could also use a Udonis Haslem/Michael Beasley frontcourt, considering how strong a defender Haslem has been opposite 7-footers (like Dirk Nowitzki in the 2006 Finals, for one example) in the past. For what it's worth, Erik Spoelstra told the Miami Herald that Jamaal Magloire could get "a dose of extended action" in Sacramento. Like Anthony, Magloire is not very good these days. (The Kings have always been good at making "not very good" opposing big men look like All-Stars, of course).

The Heat are mediocre on the offensive glass and a bit above average on the defensive glass. I think the Kings can win the rebound percentages tonight. It could be a matter of hitting shots.

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Dwyane Wade	19	38.4	8.7	20.7	42.2	0.9	3.8	24.7	8.3	10.9	75.5	1.1	4.2	5.2	5.8	3.3	1.8	1.2	2.6	26.7
Michael Beasley	19	31.8	5.9	13.4	44.5	0.4	1.9	21.6	2.8	3.3	85.7	2.1	4.7	6.8	0.9	1.7	0.8	0.6	2.9	15.2
Jermaine O`Neal	18	31.8	5.9	10.6	56.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	2.4	3.9	61.4	1.8	6.2	8.1	1.6	1.5	0.4	1.2	3.8	14.3
Udonis Haslem	17	29.1	4.1	9.0	45.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.1	2.9	71.4	2.6	5.2	7.8	0.9	1.1	0.3	0.4	2.2	10.3
Mario Chalmers	19	30.7	3.6	6.9	51.5	1.4	3.6	39.7	1.5	2.1	72.5	0.3	1.6	1.9	4.0	1.8	1.5	0.2	2.7	10.1
Quentin Richardson	15	28.7	3.1	6.6	46.5	1.6	3.9	41.4	0.3	0.3	80.0	0.8	4.2	5.0	1.3	1.1	0.7	0.2	2.7	8.0
Daequan Cook	12	17.6	2.0	6.7	30.0	1.2	3.7	31.8	1.2	1.3	87.5	0.2	2.3	2.5	1.1	0.7	0.3	0.2	1.0	6.3
James Jones	11	21.2	1.5	3.9	37.2	1.3	3.2	40.0	1.0	1.4	73.3	0.4	1.7	2.1	1.0	0.4	0.3	0.0	1.8	5.2
Carlos Arroyo	18	15.2	1.8	3.9	47.1	0.1	0.2	33.3	0.8	1.1	78.9	0.4	1.1	1.5	1.8	0.8	0.2	0.1	1.4	4.6
Jamaal Magloire	3	9.7	1.7	2.0	83.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	1.3	25.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	0.0	0.7	0.3	0.3	0.7	3.7
Dorell Wright	12	10.8	0.9	1.9	47.8	0.4	0.8	55.6	0.2	0.2	100.0	0.2	1.4	1.6	0.7	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.8	2.4
Joel Anthony	18	12.9	0.8	1.9	44.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.6	0.9	58.8	1.3	1.2	2.5	0.3	0.7	0.1	1.1	1.9	2.2
Shavlik Randolph	2	11.5	0.5	3.5	14.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.5	2.0	3.5	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.5	2.5	1.0
Yakhouba Diawara	1	5.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	0.0

THE KEY BATTLE

Dwyane Wade vs. Tyreke Evans. No word on line-up adjustments from Paul Westphal -- in the backcourt, the Heat are a bit traditional with Mario Chalmers at the point. Quentin Richardson isn't terribly undersized at small forward (especially not against the Kings), and Wade creates problems for any defender or opposing offensive player. I figure that Evans and Wade will match up some, and it'd be a joy to see them go mano a mano down the stretch. Evans has to watch his dribble, or Wade will be darting the other way on repeat.

BOLD PROCLAMATION

Dwyane Wade will hit the floor at some point.

NUMERIC PREDICTION

Kings by 2.

DETAILS

The Sunday 6PM tip-off. KHTK 1140 AM on radio and Comcast SportsNet on TV. Game thread at 6, post-game thread at 8:45, recap blinking on a gutter.

Lakers-Heat Preview

DexterFishmore — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:00:25 -0000

The Miami Heat look like a team that's ready to get owned. They arrived in Los Angeles early this morning having absorbed an 18-point nutshot in Denver last night. When they play at Staples this evening, it'll be their sixth game in 10 days. The six opponents they'll have faced in that stretch have a combined winning percentage of 0.694. Of the Heat's last four wins, three have come by a single point, including "victories" over NBA speedbags New Orleans and, ahem, New Jersey.

Also, their opponent tonight is the Lakers, who are rested and vibing on a streak of seven straight blowouts.

Other than that, this matchup looks great for Miami.

Tonight will be the first time this year the Lakers have seen the Heat up close, but their roster isn't much different than when we all last hung out. It's still Dwyane Wade, a couple respectable supporting players, and then trash all the way down. As you'll recall, team president Pat Riley tried to poach Lamar Odom over the summer. Tried, and failed.

It feels like Wade's been in the league a decade, but he's still only 28 and he remains a stellar talent. His production this year has, however, slipped from "unbelievably awesome" to merely excellent. From last season's MVP-caliber numbers, his assist rate is down and his shooting is way down. Wade's effective field-goal percentage has fallen from 52% last year to only 45% this year.

A look at his shot-location chart at HoopData reveals the problem: Wade isn't getting to the rim nearly as much. In 2008-09 he attempted 7.5 shots at the rim per game, a rate that's dropped to 6.1 per game - still good but not otherworldly. All those layups and dunks are being replaced by midrange looks out to 15 feet, where he (like most everyone else) isn't as proficient. He's also going through a serious three-point slump, having made only 2 of 18 over the past five games. Wade has remained highly productive because he gets to the free-throw line at an insane rate and does so many other things well aside from scoring, but he's not playing like a Jordanesque talent capable of plucking a road win from the Lakers.

Miami's second option on offense is highly decorated weed aficionado Michael Beasley. The Beez can score some, but his per-game average of 15+ overstates his value because he uses so many possessions to get there. For some reason he thinks he's a three-point shooter and will jack up a couple per game. This is great news for Heat opponents because he's been hitting less than 25%.

Starting point guard Mario Chalmers and center Jermaine O'Neal are decent role-players, nothing more. Chalmers doesn't use a lot of possessions, but he's an important cog in the Miami offense. With him on the floor, they've scored 14 points more per 100 possessions than when he's on the bench. O'Neal's enjoying a modest bounce-back season, and good on him for that. He's nonetheless likely to get worked by Andrew Bynum.

(Remember when the Lakers almost traded Bynum for O'Neal? Yikes.)

O'Neal is backed up by Udonis Haslem, who has his uses, but the rest of the Heat rotation is beyond feeble. Quentin Richardson or James Jones, neither of whom should be getting minutes in the NBA, will start at small forward. Somehow they make about $12 million combined. Q Rich has played almost 400 minutes this year and attempted only one free throw, which he missed. Daequan Cook plays 18 minutes a night but still finds time to jack up 4-5 threes every game. He makes less than a third of those attempts and shoots even worse on his twos. You have to admire his self-confidence, I guess.

(Seriously, the next time you're pissed off about the Lakers' bench, go look at the numbers for some other teams. There is a lot of nastiness out there. Bad benches are the rule in the NBA, not the exception.)

Miami will have to deal with at least two other problems that jump out at me from the numbers. One is that their defense is really starting to crack. In the table below, I've listed their points allowed per possession in each of their last five games. The league average, keep in mind, is slightly less than 1.07 PPP.

Opponent	PPP Allowed
Orlando	1.09
Washington	1.08
Boston	1.06
Portland	1.15
Denver	1.24
Weighted Average	1.12

Wade and Chalmers make up a pretty good defensive backcourt, but O'Neal isn't nearly the defender he once was, and Beasley is downright awful. As we've already seen in so many games this year, Bynum and Pau Gasol are going to get a ton of excellent looks. Miami can mitigate the problem by subbing in Haslem for Beasley, but that move comes at an obvious cost on offense. Against this Lakers team, there's just nowhere to hide a bad frontcourt defender.

The other big problem is that Miami is one of the jump-shootingest teams in the league, and they're going to be playing tonight on dead legs. Thanks again to HoopData, we know they take fewer shot attempts at the rim per game than any other squad. Having played at altitude yesterday and traveled overnight, the Heat could be in for a hugely sucky shooting performance.

If absolutely everything were clicking and Wade were in vintage form, I could imagine Miami giving the Lakers a game. At the moment, thought, the conditions just aren't right - quite the opposite, in fact. This looks to me like another tasty beatdown waiting to happen.

I can think of worse ways to start the weekend.

	Lakers	Heat
*RECORD*	14-3	10-8
*NET POINTS PER GAME*	+8.1 (3rd)	-0.3 (16th)
*PACE*	98.3 (6th)	93.2 (27th)
*OFFENSIVE RATING*	104.6 (14th)	103.7 (17th)
Turnover Rate (Off.)	13.3% (11th)	13.1% (7th)
FTA/FGA (Off.)	0.26 (25th)	0.33 (9th)
Free-Throw %	74.4 (19th)	75.4 (16th)
Effective FG% (Off.)	50.4 (13th)	49.2 (20th)
True Shooting% (Off.)	53.9 (15th)	53.8 (17th)
Off Rebounding Rate	27.1% (13th)	25.0% (23rd)
*DEFENSIVE RATING*	96.6 (2nd)	101.7 (10th)
Turnover Rate (Def.)	14.6% (11th)	13.4% (17th)
FTA/FGA (Def.)	0.26 (5th)	0.32 (21st)
Effective FG% (Def.)	45.7 (1st)	48.1 (7th)
True Shooting% (Def.)	50.2 (1st)	52.6 (11th)
Def Rebounding Rate	72.6 (19th)	73.7 (13th)

All statistical terms defined here. Parentheses indicate league rankings. Numbers are courtesy of Basketball Reference and HoopData and, except for record and net points per game, are through Wednesday night's action.

Why You Should Watch, Part 1: A Suns Fan's Cheat Sheet to the Rest of the League

Mike Lisboa — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:00:40 -0000

Coach Gentry cheers on the Suns at every game. You should, too! (Photo by Max Simbron)

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The Phoenix Suns are 11-3 and heading into a December full of must-watch games against top flight NBA teams. No Suns fan worth their salt is going to miss a match-up against the Lakers or Spurs or Mavericks. Those teams have been lifelong (or at least decade-long) nemeses to our beloved Suns and each of those games is like a basketball rite of passage.

But what about the rest of the League? Why should you watch the Suns beat up on the Timberwolves or Bobcats? And what about those random teams that never get any pub way out west like the Bucks or the Nets? Below is part one of list of things to look for and reasons to watch our Suns play every team in the NBA. Feel free to print it out and keep it on the fridge next to your official Phoenix Suns schedule or next to the remote so you can crib from it on gameday. Also included is each team's SBNation site if you'd like to learn more about them.

But mostly you should watch because it's the Suns!

Atlanta Hawks, Peach Tree Hoops: Another early season surprise, just like The Suns. The obvious angle here is former Sun, Joe Johnson, aka Daisy Buchanan aka The One That Got Away. While in past seasons, one could have argued that perhaps he was the only reason to watch the Hawks, this year Atlanta done went and put together a ball club. Josh Smith will put you on a poster after rebounding your miss that he nearly blocked on the other end and Jamal Crawford will go from 0-15 points in the blink of an eye. This is a fun team that, like the Suns, seems poised to make an unexpected run at an assumedly superior division rival (the Orlando Magic).

Boston Celtics, CelticsBlog: Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce. For me those are reasons enough to watch them. For Suns fans, KG represents an alternative dimension where the Suns won the trade lottery a few years back and miraculously transformed into a defensive championship-winning machine. Ray Allen was a Suns assassin with the Sonics seemingly ending every contest against the Suns with a 3 as time expired. And Paul Pierce is the The Truth. Probably a little underrated around these parts, Pierce is a ferocious competitor and maybe the 3rd most important Celtic in history behind Bill Russell and Larry Bird. However, time is catching up to the Big 3 and this may be the last chance to catch them before they retire/go their separate ways. Oh, and for added Suns angles, former Sun/Sun Devil Eddie House is always conscienceless good times firing 3s off the bench and Rajon Rondo causes some current fans to look at Goran Dragic coming off the bench and cut themselves since he was in fact a Phoenix draft pick that the Sarver and company sold on eBay back in the day.

Charlotte Bobcats, Rufus On Fire: True story: I nearly canceled League Pass after coming across a Bobcats/Nets game a couple weeks ago. It was eye murder. That said, there's some fun to be had here. First, you can boo/cheer Boris Diaw as you see fit. Watching him play waffle croissant frustrate another team is much more liberating without worrying about how his 9 milli a year is affecting the Suns' cap situation. Raja Bell is gone, but in his place is former Suns division rival Stephen Jackson who should up the excitement quotient in the Queen City. And if you though Mike D'Antoni had a thing against young players, you can practically see the Charlotte faithful's collective head getting ready to explode as rookie lottery pick Gerald Henderson continues to ride pine even in garbage time.

Continued after the jump...

Chicago Bulls, Blog-A-Bull: Joakim Noah will make you eat your words. Derrick Rose is going to be a very good point guard for a very long time. Vinnie Del Negro has one of the best tans I've ever seen. He's the NBA's answer to George Hamilton. If you want something of a Suns angle, John Salmons shunned the Suns leading them to eventually sign Marcus Banks to one of the worst contracts in Suns history AND Luol Deng was also a one time Suns draft pick. Alternately frustrating and fantastic, there's a lot to watch any time these Bulls take the floor.

Cleveland Cavaliers, Fear The Sword: Little known fact about these Cavs... just kidding. If ever an NBA team suffered from overexposure, it's this year's Cavs. Whether or not, Shaquille O'Neal puts Cleveland over the top or drags them under, LeBron James' presence makes Cleveland must-watch basketball every time he takes the court... at least for another few months.

Dallas Mavericks, Mavs Moneyball: Well, well, well, if it isn't a rejuvenated Shawn Marion back in the Western Conference! With Jason Kidd and Tim Thomas on the roster, that's 3 former Suns who could make life miserable for their ex-team. Then there's notable Suns killer and former Wildcat Jason Terry who gets all Bill the Butcher on the Suns every time they play. And of course, Dirk Nowitzki is a straight up animal. New to the mix this year is rookie Frenchman Rodrigue Beaubois, who might be the only 6'0" player in the NBA with a go-to alley oop play drawn up especially for him. So, yeah, watch these guys.

Denver Nuggets, Denver Stiffs: This is quite simply an electric basketball team. Defensively suspect perhaps, this Nuggets team is simply terrifying on the offensive end. Carmelo Anthony's most dangerous spot on the floor is, well, the floor. From the baseline to the top of the arc, he is making opponents lives miserable this season. Off the bench, rookie PG Ty Lawson is quickly making a name for himself as a capable and dangerous back-up to Chauncey Billups' unwaveringly steady hand. These cats are slick and worth watching any time they take the floor.

Detroit Pistons, Motown String Music: The most exciting development in the world of Dee-troit Basketball is Will Bynum's transmogrification into the explosive substance, Bynumite. And he's a former Wildcat, too! Also, the Suns whupped them handily so they're good for the occasional Alando Tucker sighting. And I <3 a healthy Rip Hamilton.

Golden State Warriors, Golden State of Mind: There's a lot to like here: Steph Curry, Anthony Randolph, Monta Ellis, Andris Biedrens and hey -- it's Raja Bell! I was a big Anthony Morrow fan at Summer League and after one game, even D-League call-up Chris Hunter is making some noise. The problem is with Don Nelson running the show mailing it in, you never know what version of this team you're going to get. As a Suns fan though, with 14 games worth of hindsight, try and figure out how that rumored Amare trade would have worked out this season (my 2 cents: not well).

Houston Rockets, The Dream Shake: No T-Mac? No Yao? No problem. Sort of. After a hot start, the Rockets have cooled off to the .500 level in their last 10 games. What they lack in star power, the team is attempting to compensate for in effort and ingenuity. While that combination may make for a middling season, it also makes for smart, hard-fought basketball games that the Suns will have to earn.

Indiana Pacers, Indy Cornrows: Because Danny Granger is the brightest star you've never heard of. While off to a bit of a rough start in 2009, Granger is capable of taking over games and should not be slept on. Also, Tyler Hansbrough will help you find your dog.

Los Angeles Clippers, Clips Nation: This is a team on the verge of... something. They've got a solid if unspectacular commingling of veteran and youth presence in the starting line-up and on the bench and it will only get better once Blake Griffin joins the mix. Boom Dizzle and Eric Gordon make for an above average (and occasionally dynamic) backcourt. Chris Kaman is playing as if he is actually from another planet this year. Marcus Camby is ol' reliable and Craig Smith and Sebastian Telfair are providing serviceable minutes off the bench. In short, these Clippers are ready to break out of the cellar and into the NBA middle class, but they won't because Mike Dunleavy is a terrible, terrible coach. So why should you watch? For the novelty of seeing a team whose locker room cancer is actually roaming the sidelines in a suit.

Los Angeles Lakers, Silver Screen and Roll: "Hate Leads to Suffering; Or, How I Learned to Stop Suffering and Appreciate the Los Angeles Lakers." I'm not sure when I stopped hating the Lake Show, but it's a relatively recent phenomenon. There's just too much good basketball happening when they're on the court. Kobe Bryant is the pre-eminent basketball technician in the league right now. Pau Gasol might be the most sophisticated power forward in the NBA. Andrew Bynum is morphing from man-child to man with each passing minute on the court. Lamar Odom is the Ghost of Earl Clark Future and Ron Artest has gone from dangerously crazy to lovably eccentric with a change in area code. Oh, and that guy on the sidelines has 12 rings (2 as a player... haters) to legitimize any complaints of "Fakerism." For weaknesses, Derek Fisher is showing his age and then some and that bench is the basketball equivalent of Russian Roulette (there's about a 1 in 6 chance they will cost the Lakers the game). But you know, watch for the hate. It feels good, doesn't it, young Skywalker?

Memphis Grizzlies, Straight Outta Vancouver: Because Allen Iverson is must-watch basketball! Watch these guys so that 2 years from now you can say you were there when... Rudy Gay announced his presence with authority, O.J. Mayo came into his own, Zach Randolph quietly resucitated his career, Marc Gasol began working his way out of Pau's shadow, Jamaal Tinsley was brought into stabilize (!) a team's roster, and Hasheem Thabeet began fading into obscurity. It's kinda like watching the X-Files before the X-Files was cool (and that also started in Canada!).

Miami Heat, Peninsula is Mightier: Because if you don't watch, Dwyane Wade will throw himself at you and you WILL be called for a foul. While it's easy to mock Wade's penchant for reckless drives and refs tendencies to bail him out, it's impossible to argue that he's not a hardwood hurricane when this team needs him to be. Without Wade, this team's win total is somewhere in the 30s, but with him, they're a dangerous playoff foe... which isn't to say there isn't some talent around him. Udonis Haslem defines "unsung hero" outside of Miami-Dade County. Jermaine O'Neal and Quentin "P90X" Richardson are both having mini-renaissances this season and youngsters Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley provide inconsistent if effective support to their leading man. But mostly, it's all about Wade being a force of nature that you can watch from the comfort of your home without worrying about losing your home in the process.

To be continued....

Relax, Heat fans...things aren't as bad as they seem.

DolPhanDave — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:10:26 -0000

by J Pat Carter - AP

J-O is one of four Heat players shooting over 50% this season.

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I feel there has been a lot of negativity surrounding the Heat lately, and understandably so. Over the past couple weeks the Heat have only won two of their last six games, barely scraping by in the two victories. Now I'm sure that most of us will agree that a major lapse in the team's defense is the reason for the sudden string of under .500 play. I thought that I'd try and spread a little sunshine on the situation because quite frankly, the ship can get righted just as quickly as things began going wrong.

You guys know how much I love stats, so I did some digging and found some offensive numbers that should have most of you seeing the growing bright side of the Heat's recent play. Before I get into it, I'll say this: I'm not trying to ignore the defensive problems that have emerged, but I believe that they will get fixed relatively quickly.

Getting Quentin Richardson and Udonis Haslem back into the mix will help a lot, but overall I think players were getting a little too content with how well were going on D. When that happens, the hustle gets a little less frequent and players start trying to defend with their hands instead of their feet. The defensive minded Heat coaching staff will make sure everyone gets back on track...just give them a few practices and film sessions.

Shifting our focus back to the offensive side of things, there are a few players who have been putting up some great numbers on a consistent level and I've got the stats to back it up. I was going to use our five starters, but its no secret that Quentin Richardson hasn't been the offensive force that he has been in years past, despite hitting some big shots already this season. Instead I'm going to focus on the other four starters and one bench player.

DWYANE WADE

He started the year struggling with his jumper, and then more recently has not gotten to the foul line as much as usual. I've also gotten on his case for taking way too many ill advised three-pointers. Looking at his numbers over the past week, the only thing that needs to get a little better are the free throw attempts.

Last 3 games: 28-of-63 from the field (44%), 6-of-14 from 3-point range (43%) and 14-of-19 from the foul line (74%). All three are big improvements on his early numbers, and just by watching him you can see that lately he has seemed much more comfortable shooting from the outside. He has also been contributing elsewhere, with 17 boards, 16 assists, 3 steals and 5 blocks in the last 3 games.

MICHAEL BEASLEY

Sticking with the last 3 games, Beasley is another guy who has quietly been improving on all his early season numbers. I know I give him a lot of grief for not consistently being able to finish when he drives, but he has still been making a huge difference for Miami.

23-of-36 from the field (50%), 2-of-3 from beyond the arc (67%) and 11-of-12 from the foul line (92%) are all really good numbers. He is also averaging 10 rebounds/game over the last three. Slowly but surely, Beasley is maturing into a hell of a power forward, and his body is still growing, as is his knowledge of how to play and succeed in the NBA.

JERMAINE O'NEAL

For the next three players we're expanding our viewing range to the last four games, and starting things off with the big guy. Before getting to the stats, I could have probably taken a look at his offensive numbers from any four games this year and they still would be impressive, but the main thing I wanted to bring attention to here is his rebounding, which slowly has been decreasing.

26-of-46 from the field (57%) and 11-of-16 (69%) from the foul line. On the season he is shooting over 57% from the field, which is just awesome. Getting to the boards, he's got 25 over the last four games which is 6.3 per game, one below his season average of 7.3. Since he has played in 12 games, lets look at his rebounding in groups of four games at a time.

Over the first four games of the season O'Neal pulled down 33 boards, an 8.3 per/game average. The next four games he snared 29 boards; a 7.3 average over those four games, which moved his season average down to 7.8 a game. As I mentioned before, in his 4 most recent games J-O has only 25 rebounds, which is 6.3 per game. This moved his season average down to 7.3. While his shooting has been amazing, hopefully he'll catch himself before letting his rebounding numbers continue to decline.

MARIO CHALMERS

There hasn't really been much attention paid to Rio this season, be it positive or negative. I don't see this as a bad thing because last season Chalmers was focused on a lot when talking about defensive weaknesses on the team. While he still has a ways to go, he is no longer consistently getting beat off the dribble and his perimeter coverage has gotten significantly better.

Offensively he has just started to get more aggressive and the benefits are showing. He has a quick little first step and almost always finishes when he gets to the rim, often times dunking the ball. To the stats we go...

In the last four games he's gone 20-for-36 (56%) from the field, 8-of-19 (42%) from 3-point range but just 9-of-14 (64%) from the foul line. On the year he's shooting 53% from the field and 44% from beyond, but he takes just 6.9 shots/game. In the last four games however, he is taking 9 shots/game and making them at a slightly higher percentage.

And while he may be taking a few more shots per game, it hasn't effected his production in other areas. 12 rebounds, 18 assists and 5 steals in four games should have a lot of people happy with his all-around performance, and hopefully he'll continue to play as well all-around as he has over the past week or so.

DAEQUAN COOK

Dae-Dae is having a rough start to his season. While he missed five games due to a shoulder injury, I'd say that he played in another 3 games in which the injury was affecting his productivity. His minutes have been wavering over the last four games as Erik Spoelstra is likely waiting for his shooting stroke to get back to normal. Still, we take a look at numbers not as much to enjoy, but more to see his struggles because we all know what kind of shooting he is capable of.

10-of-29 (34%) from the field, 7-of-21 (33%) from beyond the arc and 8-of-9 (89%) from the charity stripe. Sure, he's the only player other then Beasley who has given us really good foul shooting numbers, his overall shooting is just atrocious. The worst part is that these numbers are actually better then his overall season stats. He's shooting just 28% from the field and 29% from 3-point range on the season.

While he really needs to get his shot going, it shouldn't be very difficult for him to improve on both his early season numbers from this year and his final stats from last year, when he shot 37% from the field and 38% from 3. The one bright side of Cook's play this year has been his rebounding. He is pulling down 3.3 boards a game this year which is almost a full rebound more then his average last year (2.5). He also has 5 or more rebounds in three of his eight games this season.

I hope that this first ‘stat blog' of the season has given you all a closer look into how despite the Heat have been falling in the standings, there are still some things that indicate why the Heat will get back to their winning ways as opposed to a continued slide.

Individually, Michael Beasley and Jermaine O'Neal are playing some great offensive basketball. Dwyane Wade is in the process of getting back to his 30+ ppg routine. Then there is Mario Chalmers, who is giving us very little to complain about in the early season. Daequan has a ways to go, but there isn't as much pressure on his this season as there was a year ago. Coming off a bench littered with good shooters (Haslem, Jones and Carlos Arroyo, who is shooting 51%) will allow Cook to find his rhythm and get his minutes back without hurting the teams overall performance.

Udonis Haslem and Dwyane Wade lead Heat back to victory

DolPhanDave — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:35:35 -0000

by Alan Diaz - AP

Get up here and high-5 me Rio

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As the game began there was one thing I was looking at and that was how the Heat would look defensively. After getting a turnover on their first defensive possession, Miami committed back-to-back fouls resulting in 5 points. Meanwhile at the other end Dwyane Wade and Michael Beasley both failed to finish on seemingly easy layup attempts. My main knock on Beasley remains the same...he needs to be able to finish drives consistently.

Jermaine O'Neal was very active early in the game, scoring 6 of the Heat's first 12 points. Then on back-to-back plays he was fouled and despite them not counting, hit a couple tough shots. Definitely the most active he'd been in the 1^st quarter of a game since opening night. A scary moment though as O'Neal was seen heading into the Heat's locker room with 3 minutes left in the quarter, but he would return soon after.

Mario Chalmers was all over the place in the first quarter, showing us how good he can be when he gets aggressive with the ball. He had 7 early points, slashing and cutting all over the floor. D-Wade was also super active in the 1^st half, playing like the superstar he is. 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the opening half for Wade, who hit his only three-point attempt and stepped it up defensively with two blocks.

The Heat continued scoring at will in the 2^nd half led by D-Wade, who was getting in the paint much more then he had been in the past week. Maybe a little too aggressive (if that's possible for Wade) as he missed 3 dunks, throwing them down a little too hard and clanking the ball off the back iron.

Turnovers were becoming a problem for Miami and that is what was keeping the Hornets in the game. Half way through the 3^rd quarter the Heat already had 10 turnovers. New Orleans was being led by Marcus Thornton, who scored 5 big points at the end of the quarter. Overall New Orleans used a 10-2 run to close out the 3^rd, drawing within 3 points of the Heat.

The 4^th quarter began pretty poorly for Miami. A missed shot and a turnover for Miami turned into 4 quick points and the lead for New Orleans. It didn't last though as Michael Beasley hit his first trey of the game to put the Heat back up by 2, but then the back and fourth game continued when former Heat player James Posey hit back-to-back triples, and half way thorough the fourth the Heat were down by 5. Maybe the 4^th quarter wouldn't have gotten so exciting if the Heat hadn't missed 7 of their first 9 field goals, but I digress...

Bringing the Heat right back was D-Wade who continued his dominance. He hit a couple of treys to get the Heat back in front, the first time this season Wade made more three-pointers then he missed. As the game winded down the Hornets kept shooting from beyond the arc and Peja Stojakovic hit a big one to put N.O. up by 2 in the final minute.

Responding for Miami was Udonis Haslem, tying the game up at 100 with 44 seconds left. Then after Marcus Thornton hit one-of-two from the foul line, Udonis hit another huge jumper, this one off glass, to put the Heat up by 1 with under 15 seconds left. The Heat would then clamp down defensively, forcing David West to take an ill advised jumper (to put it nicely) at the end. The shot didn't fall and the Heat would get a much needed win.

The Heat hit just 6 field goals in the 4^th quarter but still managed to come away with the ‘W'. Michael Beasley and Dwyane Wade each had a pair of triples and Udonis Haslem hit the two BIG jumpers in the final minute. Wade finished with 31 points, 6 boards, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Beasley finished one rebound shy of his 3^rd double double this year, recording 17 points and 9 boards. It was the third time this season that Beasley came up one rebound short of a double double, and his average of 6.2 per game is almost a full board more then he averaged last season (5.4).

GAME NOTES

The Heat put up 59 points in the first half (on 57% shooting), their highest scoring output in a half this season.

Finally the Heat were able to win a game when allowing their opponent to score 100 points. Defensively, Miami held New Orleans to just 39% shooting, but the Hornets hit 12 three pointers which kept them in the game.

With his second trey of the 4^th quarter Dwyane Wade tied Steve Smith for 13^th on the Heat's all-time 3-pointers list.

Jermaine O'Neal had a tough rebounding night, finishing with just 4. He was stuck on just two boards for a while, grabbing two more in the games final 5 minutes.

Daequan Cook came down with an uncharacteristic 6 rebounds in limited minutes but still found himself on the bench during ‘crunch time'. It's going to take a little while before Spoelstra feels comfortable with Cook on the floor down the stretch; maybe when he starts drilling shots on a consistent basis.

Quentin Richardson missed his second straight game with a lower back strain. He's listed as questionable for the Heat next contest on Wednesday in Orlando.