Nate Robinson takes a bad, rushed three pointer (no surprise here) and is a shot that the Heat would be willing to live with.  Notice that Boozer is already starting to move into a more active rebounding position whereas Bosh’s positioning is pretty bad.  The chance that the rebound would careen off along the baseline is small, so Bosh’s intuitive positioning on the play (and even more, his inactivity in moving to a better rebounding position) does not make that much sense.

Here’s one reason why the Heat struggle to rebound, and also why they will struggle against bigger, physical opponents.  Boozer is simply stronger than Chris Bosh: Bosh has two arms on Boozer and Boozer is pushing back with only one arm — and is still winning the positioning battle.

Boozer can hold his own with one arm, so when he gets two arms active and free it is basically game over for Bosh.  You can see Boozer’s superior leverage and the fact that Bosh is being forced backwards (and basically underneath and behind the basket).  The other thing is that Miami is not crashing the glass at all.   Miami’s complacency on the boards is worrisome.

Boozer has clearly established superior position, and finally Battier, James, and Allen have started to provide some rebounding support for Bosh.  The Bulls have almost conceded the rebound so it is absurd that the Bulls actually got this rebound, I mean, Hinrich has already started to jog back to play defense. (Yes, I understand that the Bulls got lucky with the direction of the rebound, but Boozer should have never should have even had a play on the ball considering there are four Heat players in the paint and two Bulls players.)

Another reason why the Heat have trouble rebounding: other than LeBron James and Chris Anderson, there are not a ton of great leapers on the Heat.  Wade has lost his explosiveness and Bosh is not an aerial threat at all.  You can see Shane Battier start going up for this rebound about five feet away from the ball — Battier and Bosh simply lack the jumping ability to challenge a superior rebounder who has excellent position.

Boozer, buoyed by his excellent position and the fact that Battier cannot jump, gets to the rebound first (notice how Luol Deng and Nate Robinson are completely out of the shot now).

To make it worse, Battier falls, giving Boozer an unobstructed lane to the basket.  If Battier had not fallen, at least he would have been able to contest the shot and make it more difficult for Boozer.

Not only are the Heat less athletic than a lot of teams in the NBA, they lack strength inside.  In fact, their most athletic players tend to be perimeter players and have less opportunity to help with rebounding.  This, along with a lack of willingness to box out, are probably the main reasons why the Heat are last in the league in rebounding.

Over the 8 game winning streak, the Heat have outscored the opposition by an average of 16.5 points and the team chemistry is at an all-time high. The Heat are tied for the best record in the league and are also the number one scoring team right now. The Blazers have speed, but Miami easily matches up with their athleticism and talent.

Expect a huge game from LeBron James. He has won his last 4 games in Portland and has 39 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists in those matchups (yes, those are real stats). He’ll be playing with a chip on his shoulder with everyone criticizing him over All-Star weekend.

Dwyane Wade also has a grudge against the world right now. People criticized him over the weekend for a foul on Kobe that was an honest mistake. He’s averaging 22 points on 50% shooting, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.7 steals, and an impressive 1.4 blocks. Wade is probably the player on the Heat that needed this 3 day rest the most, so expect energy.

As for the rest of the team, everyone is playing very well and the team is gelling better than anyone even thought possible. Mario Chalmers and Mike Miller are both shooting over 50%, Udonis is averaging 8 rebounds, and Norris Cole is becoming that spark off the bench that the Heat need. And of course, we can’t forget Chris Bosh, the unsung hero of the team. He’s doing his job, knocking down jumpers, and averaging 18 points and 8 rebounds per game on 49% shooting.

As for the Blazers, they’re coming off a loss to Denver last night, where they got destroyed on the boards. They’re led my all-star Lamarcus Aldridge and newly appointed starting point guard, Jamal Crawford. They’re 13-5 at home, but that doesn’t mean anything when you are playing Miami. For them to win, they’d need to play their best game of the season considering the Heat are on such a hot streak.

Miami just needs to keep the rhythm and chemistry they had before the All-Star break and they’ll win. They haven’t been turning the ball over as much and have been rebounding well, which are two things that are key to making sure they beat Portland. It’s exciting to have the Heat back on the court tonight and hopefully they continue the win streak.

Check back tomorrow for some post-game analysis and a preview of the game against the Utah Jazz.