X-men to the Rescue

In a post game interview of Game 5 against the Nets, Shaq was asked about Antoine Walker's performance and the possibility of a coming out party for the Heat's bench. Shaq made the obvious comment about the dependency of a team's success on its bench and depth, and noted that the Heat bench played a vital role in winning that game, let alone taking the series. (He also announced that he made history for being called for the first ever ass-fensive foul in NBA history on Jason Collins...)

But he referred to his teammates who were brought in this summer as 'the X-men', specifically Payton, Walker, Williams and Posey.

And the X-men came to the rescue in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

It looked bad. The Pistons were able to wiggle out a small run and take the lead, for the first time in the game. Wade picked up his 4th foul on a drive towards the rim - a charge drawn by Ben Wallace. That was with 7:14 left to go in the third. And the Heat struggled, missing jump shots from Haslem and a Shaq turnover. But they hung in there - and at 4:36 in the 3rd, the Heat made their run. Walker made one of two free thows; Payton hits a floater, then a Walker three followed by a Posey three.

And the Heat bench started to assert themselves physically. With just over a minute left, Tayshaun Prince drives baseline and runs into Zo, who sends him to the ground. Words exchanged (possibly over recipes or something cordial like that) but the damage was done. Posey's ferocious physical D. Zo's rebounds and blocks. And when Posey got a flagrant, Shandon Anderson hit the floor demonstrating the Heat's depth.

Despite Hubie Brown's constant showers of praise for the Pistons, the Heat kept asserting themselves and playing better basketball. The bench, with a smattering of playing time from Wade and Shaq on the bench, was able to build a 10 point lead midway into the 4th quarter.

Performance?

14 points from Gary Payton. (Nightstalker?)

5 points, 2 assists and 5 rebounds from James Posey. (Colossus?)

6 points, 2 blocks and 4 rebounds for Zo. (Wolverine?)

Antoine Walker, another one of the Xmen (probably Beast), dropped in huge 3 point bombs and had a 17 point 7 rebound performance. Jason Williams (Gambit) contributed 10 points on 5-7 shooting, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

An impressive win for the Heat. They got a big lift on the road from their bench. The Pistons missed shots, but so did the Heat. And they didn't get over 30 minutes from either Wade or Shaq.

There is room for improvement. Let's see if the other superheroes on this team will show up.