..yes it was a classic eastcoast style game. Defensive, gritty, melancholic, grey…

There was grace in the end though as Bosh and Bron’s stepped up to “do what they gotta do, mang…”* and put their signatures on this thing in cohesion.

Chalmers, great game… everyone in Miami played their roles…playmaking was there, Detroit hung around with guys like Daye shooting well. He and Miller went toe-to-toe on at least 1 or 2 sequences.

Curry looked sluggish tonight though, that surprised me. Anyways, Daye choked in the clutch to make it interesting.

And  then the gayest quotables ever courtesy of Sun-sentinel:

“We looked up at each other at the end of the third quarter and we both knew he wasn’t coming out,” Spoelstra said.

“We did lock eyes,” James said.

“LeBron was able to attack and knock down his free throws,” Spoelstra said.

“We told him he’s two-way player and he has to prove it,” Spoelstra said.

“It was a gusty win,” Spoelstra said. “It doesn’t matter how you get there.

“In the moment of truth, we were able to get a couple of consecutive stops.”

*Al Pacino ‘Scarface’ style accent

The Cavs played Miami hard. They stayed in it and made Miami work for the win. On another night they might have caught Miami in a trap game, similar to Milwaukee. Bosh and Bron continued their sequence of signature games and Haslem and Cole led the bench effort.

Quotes from post-game.

“He’s a very cerebral player, so he knows what we need when we need it,” Spoelstra said about Bosh. “We need some scoring when Dwyane is out and he’s able to do it in the context of our normal offense. It was important for us.”

“It wasn’t all together a smoothly played game but at the end, regardless how you get there, we were able to get a handful of stops and execute,” Spoelstra said.

“Finally in the last three to four minutes, the ball started to move,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

“Whenever I play and I don’t hesitate, good things happen,” Bosh said. “People say don’t fall in love with it, but it loves me and I love it back,” Bosh said of his jump shot.

“I think he made the biggest adjustment with this whole situation,” James said, referring to the moves that allowed he, Bosh and Dwyane Wade – who sat out again with a sprained right ankle — to team up in July 2010. “He’s done it before.”

“We kind of beat ourselves tonight,” Irving said. “We had 22 turnovers and we lost by seven points.”

“Stayed in the game for 48 minutes,” Cleveland coach Byron Scott said. “And the only thing I’m disappointed in is the fact that we had 22 turnovers. That’s killing our young team.”

“It’d have frustrated me a lot if we lost,” James said. “I’m all about team. When I don’t play well and we lose, I feel like I didn’t do enough. But my teammates picked me up.”

“I don’t think we played him straight up,” said Cavaliers swingman Anthony Parker, who spent most of the second half as James’ primary defender. “We brought help when we needed to. He’s a great player and he’s going to get points, but we didn’t want to give him the breakaways and easy layups at the basket, stuff like that.”

“You see a lot of good come out of some injuries,” James said. “You never want any injury to our team but we seen what C.B. has done since the injury and he’s back to playing like he was and getting the ball and just attacking, either with his jump shot or attacking the rim, which he did. He did pretty much everything he wanted to do in the fourth quarter tonight.”

The Sixers were in town. They remind me of the 90′s Heat in many ways. Underrated, with a good coach and some athleticism. They played teh Heat well but Miami just overpowered them on a night where the Heat offense and players were on the same page entirely. Bron and Bosh both had signature games with 28/9/5 (bron), 30/7/5 (bosh) and there was good ball movement going on. For all of the talk about Battier having no offense, he made some respectable offensive moves to the hole tonight. Louis Williams led Philly and Meeks showed he has some good speed out there on him.

Sunday 1.22 vs Bucks:

Miami lacked the extra energy in this game to get over the hump against a decent Bucks team. Jennings played well early and Miami’s defense was a mess at the end of the 4th. James had 28/13/5, Bosh 23/6/1. Chalmers shot 4-14 as the only other Miami player in double figures. Chalmers did have a sick and-1 in one of those 4 shots. Cole is being looked at to step up in such a scenario and he did get a couple of shots up, but Cole should also look to set up other guys with shots and get some more assists, that seems like a better approach for him. A Rondo-like approach but with more scoring. Think about it.. or not.

The Heat rocked the old ABA Floridian's uniforms this weekend, as you can see here with Haslem. The Floridian cheerleaders were pretty memorable themselves..

Yes, Miami looked potent again against the Lakers.

LeBron continued his recent stretch of good play so the praise stays at the same level, but the team is clicking on all cylinders due to LeBron’s unselfish play.

Maybe it was because Magic Johnson was in the building but LeBron had his game at a Magic-like level of passing-consciousness that would have made Kareem take notice. And the team responded with inspired play and great shooting.

The rhythm was definitely there.

Let’s be honest though. Kobe did not play well, he missed his first few shots and became too passive, the Lakers responded with uninspired play overall although Gasol looked good. Also, LA is on an east coast trip and this was not the best timed game from them their energy level was low and guys like McRoberts were not a factor. This was not LA at it’s best. Bron will not see the level of open space in the playoffs that he saw tonight.

Bosh looked great again. His shot remains pure and he has been improving his decision making. His cuts look faster than earlier this year and perhaps even last year.

The core bench of Battier/Haslem/Cole was effective tonight. Good mix of offense and defense. Anthony and Chalmers especially played well giving Miami a deep dimensionality. Miller had his moments, although he needs to relax before he hurts himself again. Miller is making his shots, though.

The surprise of the night was Eddie Curry’s sharp play, a reverse layup and tip-in were crucial points to gain momentum early. His line of 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 blocks in 6 minutes was cool to see.

Since I’m throwing around praise like it is going out of style:

Overall Spo’s grasp of the lineup has a more masterful stroke to it, he seems more comfortable with his array of talent this time around. He may not even notice this himself, but there may be improvement from the young coach overall.

Other than the game, the Heat rocked the all-black unis for the first time and invoking images of Prime Tyson, it is definitely a “Miami has arrived as a true-quality franchise” moment. The streamlined look giving the franchise a futurist look, at the least it’s minimalism that I can support.

After a title, last years finals stint and legendary teams in the 90′s the Miami Heat franchise as a whole has never shined brighter or pitched darker (uniform-wise) than these last few years.

This blog entry was not paid for by the Miami Heat.

Will Kobe will get his revenge?

The Heat started out slow in this one, while the Spurs were hot like fire.

Miami’s main 2 cogs, Bosh and Bron, were tentative and hungover.

The defense was pourous at best. LeBron hit a 3 on Miami’s last possession to cut it close, but then this guy that looks like Derek Rose hit a halfcourt shot, nullifying Bron’s 3 pointer.

It wasn’t looking good for the losing streak to end and at home it was a dumbfounding performance in the first half. There were even some boos going.

Halftime. Spurs 63 Heat 49.

And then LeBron suddenly, unexplainedly transformed into beast-mode and it was all over for San Antonio.

The usual repertoire was in order:

• sick dunks

• 3 pointers with no hesitation and a backspin on the ball which could produce leather-burn.

• midrange jumpshots

• alley-oops from Chalmers

The Spurs had no idea what hit them.

By the time they recovered from the super-barrage, it was the start of the 4th, they were down 15 and Miami had just completed a heavyweight 27-point swing. Heat 88 Spurs 75.

Yes a 27-point swing. That is stuff of dominance.

James’ excellence spread to the rest of the team and what LeBron started Mike Miller accentuated with a John Blaze shooting display (6-6 on 3pts, welcome back) and Chris Bosh shut the door on a comeback with some excellent playmaking down the stretch culminating with perfect footwork on a 360 degree spin-dunk crusher.

That’s game.

Up next: The suddenly east-coast styled, defensive minded Lakers.

And some guy called Kobe Bryant.

OK, I know what your saying.

But it is not time to panic.

This is an early-season post-lockout west coast trip.

Yes, whatever Wade’s regimen was this summer/fall is looking like a slight failure.  Wade is now injured, but if you’re Wade you have to live and learn. Wade does have a ton of off-season things to do and maybe he is just a little burned out, maybe he will try something else in the next offseason.

This is just a minor bump in the road. Maybe these are not the 96 Bulls like I was hyping them up to be, but 90-91 Bulls wouldn’t be too bad either.

Even if Wade and Bron are not exactly Jordan/Pippen… they will forge their own identity with Bosh.

In this last game against Denver, Miami scored enough to win overall but not at the pace Denver was playing. Obviously, recent lineup changes by Spo has changed the equation a bit but allowing 117 points is not going to cut it with the talent on this roster. Obviously energy was down for this game and will not be this low at a regular level.

This team still made excellent plays out there:

• Full-court pass for a layup.

• Wade behind-the-back pass for an assist

• Bron shooting a great percentage

• Sick alley-oop to Wade

• Bosh had his moments

And you still have the evolution of the 5 spot to look for. How will Pittman and Curry’s return affect the Heat’s game? How will Mike Miller be utilized?

Wade will be out for some time to rehab and train. He will have a chance again to come back and dominate but for now another SG will be in the lineup.

If the Heat thought last year was extreme in highs-and-lows it woud be best to not think of this whole situation as a huge low.

It’s just a minor low.

“I’ve sprained my ankles many times, but I’ve never really sprained it like that before,” Wade said. “The biggest thing is you sprain it and you feel it roll over and try to get off of it as quick as possible. Once I got the X-rays saying it wasn’t broken, now it’s about doing my treatment and hopefully I can get back on the court as soon as possible.”

“It’s probably frustrating for him that he’s not been able to have his explosiveness,” James said, “We haven’t seen his Euro-step at all this year, because that foot is where you usually step off of and he’s kind of timid to even use that..” “…So a lot of his moves he hasn’t been able to use thus far in this year because he’s afraid that he may reinjure his foot.”

It was an epic matchup tonight as the Heat went to LA to take on the upstart Clippers.

The Clippers, rejuvenated with the additions of Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups, ex-heat Caron Butler and the development of young all-star Blake Griffin would Shirley like to make a statement against the powerhouse Heat. And they came to play.

“The level was definitely raised a little bit,” Griffin said. “We were tired, but the intensity was as high as it should be.”

Right out of the gate there were excellent plays at the rim for Miami and a beauty of an alley-oop from Paul to Griffin.

In fact the entire game was classic NBA action for the ages.

Fast paced, well executed basketball with acrobatic finishes all over the damn place.

If there was a turnover of any kind, it was most likely going to end in spectacular fashion at the other end of the court.

It went on all night with Miami taking a slight lead and the Clippers trying to make a continuous push to get over the hump.

Eventually a lack of free-throw conversions doomed Miami to take the loss.

“I didn’t make enough,” James said. “It’s kind of a rhythm and it trickles down to everyone.”

“I need to concentrate a little more at the free-throw line and knock them down and we’ll be fine,” LeBron would go on to say.

Free throws are such a pain in the ass and give no recognition to the athletic abilities of a player.

Thats why I propose a new penalty system.

Although it is more exhausting it would be great for athletic players like LeBron.

The player gets the ball at half-court and drives one-on-one against a player chosen by the other teams coach.

1 drive to the basket, make it and get 2 points.

Bad idea? Probably.

But anyways, the “Lob City Showdown” lived up to the billing.

“We can learn from this,” Wade said. “I thought we got what we wanted. A lot of times we were able to get LeBron to the rim.”

“I was encouraged by our execution,” Spoelstra said.

It was a sizzling night as we move to the west coast to focus on more high-quality NBA basketball.

In Phoenix, you had Kobe going for 48 (playing through a wrist injury that would send most players to surgery), to take out the struggling Suns. Will Nash be traded? He is starting to decline and PHX may want to try to get some value for him, he would still be a great 2nd or 3rd option on a contender. Knicks?

In Oakland, our Miami Heat came in ready to do battle against a new Warriors regime with ex-player/broadcaster Mark Jackson at the helm. He is preaching defense to his team, which makes sense because the GS culture has always been about run and gun west-coast styled bball. If he can balance that out with some defense he may have something. GS is stacked with young talent.

Anyways, to the game:

In the first half, the Warriors came out of the gate hard, trying to establish the tempo. They did a well enough job but the Heat showed that they have more than enough firepower to hang close. With Dwyane Wade back after a 2 game hiatus, the Heat were at full power with the starting unit and were able to make outstanding play after outstanding play.

Wade finally started looking comfortable again at the 2 spot, even showing a glimpse of the mid-range perimeter game that he likes to go away from. But, Wade’s game remains flawed: he needs to work on his reverse lay-ups and his footwork. Wade could score with much more ease if he went to the reverse layup, using the rim to block the defender. Dwyane’s moves still lack a certain fluidity/polish that can be perfected with repetition in the offseason. Maybe it is the foot pain that is hobbling Wade, but these patterns have been creeping up for a sec now…to be continued. We will see how Wade ‘s game develops as the season unfolds.

In the 3rd, Miami started pulling ahead.

Bron had his J going and was finding Bosh for some sweet cuts to the rim for slammas. Chalmers was hitting threes, Cole was attacking… it was going pretty damn well. The 3rd quarter looked like endgame for Golden State. It was Miami’s game to lose. They then proceeded to do just that.

Yes, this game featured a passive LeBron in the 4th quarter. The haters will be dining on LeBrick tweets tonight.

Some would say that LeBron quits or “checks out”.

Some would say that LeBron has a mental hurdle to overcome during pressure situations.

Some would say Bron gets fatigued.

I myself expect Wade to do more in the clutch with Bron as the facilitator.

But the truth is Miami as a team started having problems with defense (which was surely caused by fatigue?) and Golden State started lighting it up from the perimeter at a high clip, led by Dorell Wright’s 6 three-pointers. The Warriors were able to push the pace again and Miami just went cold. Even normally reliable Udonis Haslem had a dunk pop out on him and had a ball slip through his fingers and go out of bounds. James Jones was nowhere to be found on the court tonight. Literally. He played 3 mins. For some reason when James Jones plays, the Heat win.

So, in the 4th and overtime (yes this game went to ot) Bron was settling into his role as clock manager and distributor, but he again lost his aggression in the closing moments. This is obviously something that Bron has to work on. Many people think that LBJ is a perfect ball player but he still has a ton of growing to do, mentally and experience-wise. Tonight was not his night from a late-game management standpoint. Only Bron knows what is going through his mind late in the game, but I am highly doubtful it is the “psychological paralysis” that many think he is going through.

It could be as simple as Bron deferring to Wade and Wade just not able to get open.

But why should a talent like Bron defer and not be aggressive with the scoring?

Is it respect for Wade? Fear of failure? Strategy? Forgetfulness?

Probably neither, but one thing is clear:

There is still much work to be done before that championship ring finds the finger of the “chosen one” and these players and it’s superstars are far from perfect.

This team is far from perfect.

Notes: The final play of regulation featured both Battier and LeBron shutting down Monta Ellis. That is serious defensive firepower.

Can Wade and Bron finally figure it all out?

The lob alley-oop  to Bosh.

The hammer slams in the open court.

The throwdown from Cole.

The buzzer-beater at the half.

The assist to James Jones.

The one-handed rebound in trafffic, initiation to fast-break, assist to Bosh sequence.

Even the one-handed touch-pass in traffic for the assist.

LeBron did it all.

But, noooo, the one thing all the basketball nerds want to know is this…

“Did he shoot one of those standstill J’s from the post?”

Yes, he did.

And he made it.

So last blog I talked about how Miami, even sans ‘big 3′ (or in this case, without Wade and Bron), is still looking like a cohesive, dangerous team.

So of course this game against the Hawks comes and it’s Bosh looking like a legit all-world talent out there (33 points & 14 boards) and Chalmers making clutch play after clutch play. Clearly, this team made it to the finals for a reason and the scope of it goes beyond the ‘Big 3′.

With Haslem contributing double-digit rebounds as well as James Jones and Norris Cole’s overall production so far this season, this team has some interesting dynamics working for it and looks like a very functioning unit overall.

Bosh was excellent with his scoring in the clutch and overtime.

With time winding down in the 4th quarter, Bosh stepped up with a huge 3-point splashdown to force OT.

Chalmers’ 29 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, was a major option as he burned ATL’s defense late with good decision making and some decent passing.

Terrel Harris stepped in and had 14 rebounds at the guard position.

At 3OT’s, it was a test of athletic endurance and Miami won it.