Post-Game Grades: Heat Lose Preseason Home Opener to Magic
By Wes Goldberg
38. Final. 101. 110. 108
B+. It was obvious in the Miami Heat’s preseason home opener against the Orlando Magic that Chris Bosh will be given a lot more freedom this upcoming season. Last season, we saw Bosh stand either in the high post or beyond the three-point arc, often relagated to nothing but a spot-up shooter who could stretch a defense from the inside-out. Now, Bosh was free to put the ball on the floor, get to the basket and experiment with some post moves. He even brought the ball up a few times. <em>Stats: 7-of-13 for 18 points (0-3 3FG), 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block</em>.. C. Miami Heat. CHRIS BOSH
SG. Miami Heat. DWYANE WADE. B-. A spry Dwyane Wade showed off some ball-dominant moves, especially a couple of pump fakes and turn-around jumpers over Magic guard Evan Fournier in the third quarter. But after an offseason of training and getting ready for the season, Dwyane better look good in the team’s second preseason game. In the second half, we saw some solid defensive effort from him. That will be key moving forward. <em>Stats: 5-of-10 for 11 points, o rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block</em>
A-. Playing for the first time in front of an AmericanAirlines Arena crowd while wearing a Heat jersey, Deng delivered. Early on, it was quite obvious that Deng could be the second-best player on the floor quite often this season. He got to the rim often, and showed off some nice touch and toughness with a shot over 7-footer Nikola Vucevic, which ended in an and-1. <em>Stats: 6-of-13 for 18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal.</em>. SF. Miami Heat. LUOL DENG
A. The Prince of Perth loaded up the stat sheet on an impressive night. Early in the second quarter, Ennis picked off a pass and took it in transition for the dunk. It was a look at the athleticism he can bring to the court. <blockquote class=. SF. Miami Heat. JAMES ENNIS. tweetdeck
F. Miami Heat. SHAWNE WILLIAMS. D-. Okay, I may have jumped the gun on annointing Shawne Williams my Toney Douglas of this season. While I thought I would be clamoring for more Shawne all season, I won’t be if he’s playing like this. Aside from his dismal shooting performance, Shawne was caught off guard and literally turned around on defense on a few different occasions. I’m not tucking and rolling off the bandwagon, but I’m on notice. <em>Stats: 1-of-7 shooting for 4 points (1-of-5 3FG), 4 rebounds, 1 assist. </em>
Point Guard Position Battle Update: Norris Cole vs Mario Chalmers
Erik Spoelstra gave Norris Cole a shot in the starting lineup and he played well in the beginning, with four assists in the first seven minutes. Chalmers was the first man off the bench, entering at shooting guard (something I said should happen in this post) before being moved to point guard when Shannon Brown came in for Cole.
Cole had an efficient, though not spectacular outing, finishing with two points on one-of-three shooting, six assists, three rebounds and no turnovers. Chalmers was two-of-eight from the field and five-of-six from the free-throw line for 10 points. He did not record an assist or rebound.
No one did enough in this game to win the job, though I liked what Chalmers brought off the bench as the sixth man. I still think this is the direction Miami should go in.
The Heat will face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Rio de Janeiro at 5 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN News.