South Beach has never been so hot with Miami’s 101-89 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. Led by the big three of Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh, who combined for 79 points, the Heat set franchise records for their best start to a season.
After 37 games (28-9) and a streak of 19 wins from 20 matches, the Heat have set a new record over a twenty game period.
Wade continued his solid form by scoring a game-high 34 points (Heat are 14-1 when Wade gets the game-high) on 10-19 shooting as well as draining 13 from 15 from the foul stripe. LeBron James contributed well all over the court, posting solid numbers with 25 points, six boards and nine assists.
James was in command of the first quarter, scoring the final six points giving the Heat a 26-20 lead going into the second.
Milwaukee did look promising in the first half, starting with two threes from Ersan Ilyasova and John Salmons. They continued to trade baskets with their highly favoured counterparts.
The second saw some key contributions from two of the unheralded players on the roster. Luc Mbah a Moute became a handful getting to the basket and drawing a handful of fouls.
Keyon Dooling had a solid first half, the one-time Heat guard from 2004-05 had a solid first half with nine points and two assists, and contributing four points in a 10-2 run to finish the second quarter, helping the Bucks take a surprising 51-48 lead into the main break.
The third quarter saw the Bucks fight off the Heat for the lead. With three minutes left in the quarter, Andrew Bogut was called for his fourth personal foul, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra pulled Dwayne Wade to the bench. A controversial move seeing as though the Bucks had reached their foul limit.
A couple of minutes later, the turning point came with 1:20 to go in the third. The Bucks were up 68-67 when Bucks coach Scott Skiles was whistled for a technical foul.
Skiles inexplicably came out onto the court, hindering a Carlos Arroyo jump shot. Wade’s substitute James Jones knocked down the technical foul and on the ensuing possession Jones buried the Heat’s first three-pointer helping the Heat finish off the quarter with a 73-70 lead.
With the game still in the balance, Spoelstra’s decision to rest his Wade proved to be the difference. Wade came out and dominated the Bucks early in the fourth, registering ten points in a 12-4 run to start the quarter and push their lead out to eleven.
The Heat never looked back and with a pair of threes by Mario Chalmers with 2:30 remaining, the Heat skipped out to a 99-81 lead which sealed the Bucks fate. Wade scored 17 of his 34 in the decisive fourth. Andrew Bogut for the Bucks battled away in the fourth. The NBA’s league leader in blocks finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. The Bucks were led in scoring by John Salmons, who had 18 points.
On offense, the Heat looked solid around the basket leading points in the paint 46 to 32. Wade and James attacked the basket with command and Chris Bosh (19 points and 12 rebounds) displayed good range and solid touch around the basket. Miami dominated the boards, winning that category 47-34. This season when the Heat out rebound their opponents, they have won 21 of those 23 games. The Heat have won their last six games when James, Bosh and Wade score in double figures.
The Bucks now head up to Orlando tomorrow to face Dwight Howard and the rejuvenated Magic (22-12) who have won their last six. After that, the Bucks will head home to see the same Heat faces ready to battle them on Friday Night (Saturday Morning Australian time).
mushi
Guest
What tripe: - if they can’t cover for those two positions how do they win 60 games? - if they can only cover against the east how come their record against the west is better than the lakers? - how do you get to 60 wins just by beating up of the poor teams in the east when the top 4 are equal to the west and they introduced interconference play many decades back. - if you can’t cover a hole at point what did the lakers do? You also said Spolestra would be out by christmas but now and now your claiming they were bound to have 60 wins.
mushi
Guest
Not underestimating the Lakers, and not saying they can’t win it all from here, but to not be backing the spurs when the Lakers have to pull in 5 losses as their schedule gets tougher that to me is more an underestimation of the spurs.
babblingbrookesy
Roar Pro
Its a real shame. I don't think that LBJ is trying to be an absolute tool, but he sure is trying his best with what he says. There is so much pressure on this guy's shoulders to win a title right now and he comes out and says some things and you just have to wonder why he's drawing this attention to himself... They have a massive target on their head and every team is trying to 'Beat the Heat' the last thing he needs to do is give teams like the Celtics, Kobe and Magic some added motivation!
babblingbrookesy
Roar Pro
Long season Mushi... Not even half way there yet mate. Never, ever underestimate Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
"It’s kind of hard to feel sorry for Kobe when he has five rings and is aiming for a second three peat ala Jordan." Perhaps, but as a Lakers fan, I want him to have as many rings as he can get. :D "Besides, I’m a Celtics fan and I still have a bad taste in my mouth from last year’s finals." I may have to give up my Lakers membership (so to speak) for saying this, but my all-time second favourite player would have to be Larry Bird. Anyway, to be fair, you did win a title in 2008, so it's not as if you're struggling. "It wasn’t that long ago that the Lakers were balling and the Heat were awful." Like life, sport is cyclical. However, it has been a much longer time since the Lakers were as awful as the Heat was a few years ago. For which I'm grateful. Since I became a Lakers fan (*when Phil Jackson joined the Lakers as coach), we've been in the playoffs just about every year. *This is it for me. While I followed the Bulls mostly for Jordan, I will follow the Lakers even if they end up like the Clippers. "The Lakers haven’t beaten too many of the top ranked sides, but they had a good win over the Knicks today. I don’t really take things seriously until after the All-Star break. I leave that to ESPN, who usually go overboard about streaks. Having said that, Miami are insane right now." Oh, I don't want to give the impression that I think the Lakers are doing terribly. They aren't. It's just at this stage, they aren't doing nearly as well as I would like. Miami however are amazing. They took a while to get going, but once they clicked, they've been awesome.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
Lebron has become the new villain of American sports and if you watch footage of his three in overtime against the Trailblazers yesterday then it's clear he's starting to play it up.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
I read about that. Truthfully though, none of his comments have been met favourably. He recently also spoke about contraction (although he didn't use that word), and after sparking controversy, backtracked by saying that he didn't mean contraction and he didn't even know what the word meant!
jamesb
Guest
LeBron James has nicknamed Miami Heat "the heatles", a spin off to the Beatles, because James reckons Miami is selling out stadiums on the road, just like the Beatles. After what he said, it hasn't quite been favourable over in america.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
It's kind of hard to feel sorry for Kobe when he has five rings and is aiming for a second three peat ala Jordan. Besides, I'm a Celtics fan and I still have a bad taste in my mouth from last year's finals. It wasn't that long ago that the Lakers were balling and the Heat were awful. The Lakers haven't beaten too many of the top ranked sides, but they had a good win over the Knicks today. I don't really take things seriously until after the All-Star break. I leave that to ESPN, who usually go overboard about streaks. Having said that, Miami are insane right now.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
I think the difference between the Shaq/Kobe years and this was Kobe's age. He's 32, and an old 32 at that, in his 15th season. I wish I wasn't worried, but I am. I know, it's a long season and anything can happen. However the problem is the competition is surpassing the Lakers at this stage. San Antonio, Boston and Dallas (whom I don't consider a threat as they never perform in the playoffs) are all doing amazingly well, while not only are Miami on fire, but they thrashed the Lakers on Christmas day. It's a long season, and we're still not halfway through, but I am concerned.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
Bogut is amazing defensively. However his field goal % is below 50; very disappointing for a center.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
When has a season gone past where the Lakers haven't been frustrated? The Lakers view the regular season as the preamble to another shot at an NBA title. Remember how Shaq used to come into the season overweight and how slowly the Lakers would start? And as for the team dynamic, if this is supposed to be tense then the Shaq/Kobe years must've been like walking on eggshells. Here's what I think will happen -- Jackson will keep calling guys out, the Lakers will try to flip the switch late in the season and the end result will be they fall no lower than the fourth seed.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
No shame, perhaps, but the Lakers aren't doing well. This isn't like every year. True, there has been much hyperbole regarding their plight, but they are getting older, the players (and Jackson) have expressed frustration, and they are far from certainties to get the first seed. As I said, it's not that they're dead, however they could end up with a bad seeding which will dramatically impact their playoff hopes.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
Memphis have put together a nice three game winning streak over the Lakers, Thunder and Jazz (all playoff bound teams.) No shame in that. Besides, the Lakers do this every year. I'll believe their dead when someone sticks a stake through their heart.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
It is certainly going to be difficult for the Lakers, and the problem is that they don't have many chances left with the current setup to win another title. Kobe is in his 15th season, and isn't getting any younger, while Phil Jackson may not be Lakers coach next year. "you know the last time a an All nba point guard played on the title winning team? 1988" You could answer 1990, wth Isiah Thomas, but he wasn't named All-NBA in either of his championship years.
jamesb
Guest
Boguts doing well in blocks and rebounds. I think Boguts number 1 in the league with blocks, Patty Mills starting to get some minutes for Portland. Hes doing well, as well As for the lakers, they have a habit of having patches of bad form, like they have done in recent times, but somehow always pull through and are a major force come june. But Miami could be a big hurdle- unless they lose one of the big 3.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
Part of the reason Gasol hasn't been playing well is that he's been playing too many minutes, and he's been forced to play at center, rather than his natural position of power forward. Hopefully, he'll be in a situation where he can be rested more, and then he'll rediscover his form. "The other teams that have a chance are Miami, Boston, San Antonio and perhaps Dallas." The first three teams, absolutely. However Dallas never performs in the playoff; they excel in the regular season, but then they fail in the playoffs. "I wish Milwaukee was there, simply because of bogut, but losing Brandon Jennings to injury hasn’t helped." Me too. I really hope that Bogut gets named an All-Star, however that probably won't happen.
jamesb
Guest
Lakers have struggled the last 10 or 15 games or so. Pau Gasol hasn't been in the best of form, and their record at home at staples centre has been indifferent losing to the likes of milwaukee and memphis, two teams at the bottom half of their respective conferences. I still think they'll come good but. The other teams that have a chance are Miami, Boston, San Antonio and perhaps Dallas. I wish Milwaukee was there, simply because of bogut, but losing Brandon Jennings to injury hasn't helped.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
That's the kind of thing that can only be decided over seven game playoff series not beating up all the cr@p teams in the East. They were bound to win around 60 games this season.
mushi
Guest
Lakers first seed dreams have disappeared I think. for all the early season ciriticism of the heat it turns out that you perhaps can cover for a belwo average centre and point if you have three team USA players on the court. you know the last time a an All nba point guard played on the title winning team? 1988