Pretty mediocre homestand, huh? I certainly didn't see this homestand going this way. I figured 4-2 would be a good mark, and now you're looking at 3-3 at best. This team has done a good job of squandering all these home games in the early part of the season. They play a ton of road games in the second half of the season. 

A few things that have been bothering me lately (And, I am usually very level-headed when it comes to this team).........

The Portland game is a great example of something that's been bugging me of late, and it involves two of my favorite things to get upset about lately: 1) Michael Beasley's lack of 4th quarter playing time, and 2) Dwyane Wade's incredibly uneven season. 

At this point, it has to be pretty clear to everyone involved that Michael Beasley is pretty darn good. I understand Coach Spoelstra trusts Udonis and wants him on the floor in the 4th quarter. But that whole scenario reeks of letting up on the gas pedal, and playing not to lose. What I mean by that is rather than getting your best defender out there in that spot, and removing one of your best offensive players, I'd rather them continue to attack. By putting Haslem in there, you're taking away your "attack" player in Beasley and you're leaving the game squarely on Dwyane's shoulders. From what we've seen so far this season...that's certainly not good enough. Dwyane needs Beasley. And when he's been relied upon, he's delivered for the most part.

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Dwyane Wade may be better then Brandon Roy...but not on this night.

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This recap has been extremely hard for me to get started on.  Sunday is my favorite day of the week for many many reasons, but it's mainly because of sports.  And yes, the root of it is of course football, but even after football season there always seem to be big hockey and basketball games on Sunday's in the winter and spring, and over the summer Sunday Night Baseball is almost always worth watching. 

Usually I can handle losses relatively well, although my future wife (together 7+ years) might say otherwise.  The point that I'm getting at in the midst of all these personal feelings is that today was just about as close to unbearable as any Sunday I can remember.  Obviously I'm talking about the Dolphins and Heat games from yesterday. 

I am well aware that this is a Miami Heat blog, and I have never strayed away from the team of topic but tonight I guess you could say I'm abusing my power.  Of course it isn't all about the games, as there are always outside factors that contribute to any game, day, blog, etc.  I finished watching the Heat game a little while ago as I usually do, a recorded version that I'm forced to watch late due to work or family matters or whatever (it's always fun trying to avoid the results for a few hours). 

While sitting here trying to get the blog going, I reflected on the day that just passed.  Unfortunately...this is basically all I've got (and my notes from the Heat game, of course).  The Dolphin game knocked me down and the Heat game finished me off.  I am a big Brandon Roy fan and I've always seen a lot of the same qualities in him that I see in Dwyane Wade.

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More photos » by Wilfredo Lee - AP

D-Wade and Dorell Wright have been building an on-court chemistry since Wright began getting significant minutes

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The main question that I'm pondering about tonight's Heat game is ‘which Heat team will show up?'  While I'd like to sit here and show my full confidence that the squad that's won two straight games in convincing fashion is for real...unfortunately I'm just not at the point yet.  It's absolutely possible, with the talent on this roster for the Heat to be just as scary to play as the Boston's and Orlando's.  But those teams have both the talent and the consistency, the latter of which being the elusive factor for the Heat in their up and down season. 

A lot of focus tonight will be on Dwyane Wade, but not for the usual ‘he's amazing' reasons.  Wade has been battling through injuries for most of the season, with his recent wrist problems being added to by a now sore back.  He was limited in practice yesterday after suffering from some upper back spasms, but despite everything Wade is still ranked 5^th in the NBA in scoring and is fully expected to be in the lineup tonight. 

Portland is coming off of a 9-point loss in Orlando last night in which they battled hard for 3+ quarters, but in a surprising defensive battle against the offensive-minded Magic, the Blazers could only muster 18 4^th quarter points after the game was tied at 65 heading into the final period.  Portland is having a tough time but it's understandable with several of their key players out with injuries; Greg Oden, Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez are all on the shelf. 

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by Wilfredo Lee - AP

The Heat were all over the Magic from start to finish

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I don't know what you may have been expecting before Thursday nights showdown with our in-state rivals, but I'm quite certain that what happened on the court of the AAA caught everybody by surprise.  Even if you thought Miami was going to come away with the victory, it would be hard to expect that Orlando would get beat that badly.  It was all about the Heat, who played pretty amazing from start to finish.  Something happens to this team when Q-Rich is in the lineup...

From the opening tip you could tell that the Heat came to play.  Quentin Richardson announced his return to the starting lineup by drilling back-to-back threes in the opening minutes.  Miami was attacking the boards and creating 2^nd chance opportunities, holding the Magic to just 5 rebounds in the 1^st quarter.  The Heat closed out their amazing 1^st with a 10-0 run, and Miami found themselves up by 15. 

One of the funniest things I'd seen in a while was when they showed a shot of Stan Van Gundy after the Heat pushed their lead to 18.  Those priceless moments are what I miss most about our former coach.  Other then Dwight Howard the Magic we're really struggling to keep up with the Heat on both ends, but its just amazing to me how different of a team the Heat are when Quentin Richardson is in the lineup. 

Orlando tried making a push at the end of the 2^nd quarter, but every time they hit a shot Miami answered right back.  In the final minute, Jason Williams hit back-to-back buckets for the Magic, the last one coming with just 6 seconds left.  Carlos Arroyo would respond to J-Dub's run by hitting a three with under a second left, keeping the Heat up 15 into the half. 

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More photos » by Jeffrey Boan - AP

Dwyane Wade driving with the ball...something we'll hopefully see much more of in the near future.

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If the first game between these two teams is any indication, we're in for some kind of slugfest between these interstate rivals.  I'm sure the Magic remember the first meeting with Miami very clearly, likely with that image of Michael Beasley taking the D-Wade airball and slamming it home to win the game burned into their memories. 

On top of that, Orlando also will notice that Beasley has been playing the best ball of his young career the past few weeks and is coming off of one of his most productive games of the season.  While he hasn't been able to bring that supreme effort every night, the good games outnumber the bad ones and it's starting to become a reasonable expectation for Beasley to have a 20-10 night every game.

The Magic definitely used the last second loss to Miami as inspiration because since that game they've won 8 of 10, including six straight immediately following the Heat victory.  The only two losses came on the road, at Utah and at Phoenix.  Orlando did play last night at home against Toronto, but the game was never really close as the Magic got out to an 11-point lead after the 1^st quarter and never looked back. 

As inconsistent as the Heat have been the past several weeks, a big home win over Orlando would go a long way for both the players and coaches.  Coach Spo was quick to point out after Tuesday's win over Toronto that while it was nice, it was just one game.  However, should the Heat bring the same kind of effort and intensity tonight against a much better squad in Orlando, it could send a message that these players are ready to start re-claiming the respect they earned over the first couple weeks of the season. 

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More photos » by Alan Diaz - AP

If he stays healthy, who knows how high Dorell Wright may rise this season.

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Imagine my shock...I come home, power up the DVR, and what do I see?  Not only was Diawara back in the starting lineup, but Carlos Arroyo as well?  I guess a lineup shakeup could be expected with the way the Heat have been playing lately, but it seemed that Chalmers in the starting lineup was a foregone conclusion despite his erratic play.  Arroyo responded to his first start in a Heat uniform well, hitting his first two shots in the opening minutes of the game. 

Miami played a pretty decent 1^st quarter, leading it most of the way...just not the very beginning or the very end.  In what's becoming unfortunately normal, D-Wade continues to take outside jumpers and miss them badly.  Every year of his career he seemed to improve his J, gradually moving further away from the bucket as his shot got better.  This year, however, I feel like he's taken a step backwards.  The worst part is that he keeps chucking them up when he is more then capable of driving with the ball and either scoring or dishing the ball off to an open teammate. 

Michael Beasley had a great sequence with about four minutes left in the 2^nd quarter.  He came down with a real nice block on Toronto rookie DeMar DeRozen, passed it up to D-Wade and ran to the other end just in time to catch and slam a lob pass from Dwyane.  That bucket put the Heat up by 9, their largest lead of the game at that point.  It was also part of an 11-2 run for Miami. 

While it was Toronto that got off to the quick start, shooting 55% in the opening quarter, the Heat closed out the first half just as hot.  Miami matched their highest point total for a half, scoring 60 on 54% shooting and took a 10-point lead into the locker room.  Michael Beasley led the way for Miami with 18 points (on 6-of-8 shooting) and 8 rebounds.

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