Suns loss is good for the Heat

122-107 was the final score and the Suns outshined the Heat. But I contend that this is a good thing. Why? Well, first of all, you will lose games. It is just going to happen. No team has ever gone 82-0. There is more to it than that though. A loss here shows the Heat what they need to work on in order to vault closer to that elusive NBA title.

Yet, before we wax on that topic, let's really take a look at last night's game and find something positive - that the Heat did a better job than the box score indicates.

If you take out the first quarter, where the Suns shot a blazing 61% and scored 40 points, the Heat pretty much matched the Suns offensive output and even slowed them down a bit. The second quarter saw a 30-27 run favoring the Heat. The third watched the Suns answer with a 33-25 output that pushed the game ahead some but the Heat answered in the 4th quarter with a 27-22 effort. That is +3, -8, +5 for the remaining quarters for the Heat - which breaks down basically to a tie game. If you really wanted to be the optimist, the Heat won 2 of the final 3 quarters, and took 2 of the 4 overall. Those 40 first quarter points seem even more indicative of a team caught off guard.

Remember, the Heat shot 52% in this contest while the Suns shot 47%. Both are over season averages for the Heat, but the effort was there and the efficiency was in favor of the Heat. Free throws (60%) and allowing 9-29 three pointers is something else that indicates problems for the Heat.

So, although the final box score indicates the Heat were blown out, if you break it down, the case becomes a little clearer. The Heat are very much contenders for the NBA title, still. The Heat aren't as bad as the score would seemingly indicate and the Suns are not as good as it would suggest as well. Factor in during a possible playoff series a team will be better prepared for the other, that they will have time to formulate a game plan and the Heat's chances seem a little better. Also, the Suns are not a deep team. They played seven players last night and four of them played over 40 minutes. (Only Nash from the starters had less, playing 33 minutes). So, depth is going to be a problem for the Suns and something a team needs to make it through a series.

Sometimes, it is possible to squeeze blood from a stone. It just depends on how you look at the situation. The Heat lost, but they played better than some will say. Just relax and dont panic.