Heat Bounce Past Jazz

This was probably the most impressive win this year for the Heat. Yes, it is only the regular season and only December at that, but still, gotta start somewhere.

The losses to Boston were impressive considering where Miami was during those two matchups - but they could have easily been wins, too. This game, however, was almost snatched away from Miami - but not by the players on the opposing team, but by the officials.

I was at the game in person tonight (sec. 110, row 15 seat 1) - shout out to my friend Kristen and her sister Kelly and her boyfriend. Anywho, despite the usual people watching, I was able to tune into the game and watch the boys on the floor. Here are some of the things I observed:

Riley is finally getting it with Barron. The guy has great range and can be a Jermaine O'neal type PF in that he can shoot the ball and spread the floor. He won't ever be a great shot blocker and will probably be just above average as a rebounder, but at PF the guy can create problems. His versatility as a PF/C can be utilized when Shaq comes off. Still, I think Joel Anthony is the answer at backup C. (Fantasy owners, running after Barron is a bit premature, although if you are in deep leagues the guy can get you some genius points...)

Wade is back. Despite being saddled with foul trouble, his game is there and his conditioning are probably about 98% there. Just a few ticks but he looks amazing out there and is the offensive catalyst de facto.

Shaq doesn't move enough. He put in a better effort tonight, but he falls into a bad habit of planting and waiting. This is not only his doing, however, as I saw Jason Williams do the same thing when the call is to give Wade the ball. Williams runs to a corner and stands there. Might as well be 4 on 5 at that point - these guys (and their coach!) have got to learn to keep moving. If you can't you're outta shape and need to get off the floor anyway. Go try shuffle board.

Shaq did earn two standing ovations though - one on the hustle play after a loose ball that dropped him headlong into the scorers' table; the other when he fouled out on yet, another BS call.

Speaking of BS foul calls, how did the Jazz end up with 43 FTAs (free throw attempts, for those of you who don't read this blog often enough) to our 23 FTAs? When you got a force like Shaq getting fouled on every touch and a jet engine incarnated in the form of Wade, how is the other team getting the advantage? Not coincedentally, most of the FTAs came at the end of the game - 15 FTAs in the final 7:38, to be exact.

Still, as hard as the officials seem to be trying to hand Miami their third straight loss, you could feel like this game was never really under threat. The Heat quietly built up a lead in the third quarter and maintained it for a while, except for the fact that 35% of the Jazz FTAs came in the final 7:38 of the game. Sure, Miami got some FTAs too, but it wasn't the bulk of their offense.

Miami played much harder tonight. They need to continue to battle to push through this horrendous start. Next up Cleveland on Christmas - probably one of the most overrated teams in the NBA. Miami could be one of the most underrated.