It’s easy to enjoy beating the Dallas Mavericks a little too much.
In their most complete game of the season, the Miami Heat went into Dallas and beat the Mavericks 105-96. Four players scored in double-figures, as the free-flowing Heat moved the ball all over the court and just over-matched the Mavericks. Even on the second night of a back-to-back, Miami came out swinging by taking a nine point lead at the end of the first and never looked back. Compare that to last Wednesday, when Miami looked flat playing the Hornets on the second night of a back-to-back, and fourth game in five nights, as the Heat were running on fumes for the most part.
The new Big Three of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Luol Deng combined for 70 points, 17 rebounds, and 19 assists, while shooting 29 for 47 from the field. The three seem to be coming together nicely, as they have each found their niches on offense.
Monta Ellis led Dallas with 23 points, while Tyson Chandler had a double-double (16 points and 15 rebounds), but the Heat were able to limit the damage from Dirk Nowitzki (17 points) and Chandler Parsons (4 points), as they held the Mavericks to 42% shooting on the night.
Things that pleased me: The Heat had their way with the Mavericks, shooting 55% from the field. Deng led the charge with his best game of the season, scoring 30 points, on his way to decimate Parsons. Deng was able to give a healthy mix of an inside/outside game, keeping the Mavericks guessing on defense. It also help that Parsons couldn’t guard you, so a player of Deng’s caliber should be able to take advantage. He won’t score 30 points per game, but as long as Deng can average 16 to 18 point per game, you can believe the Heat will be able to keep up with anybody.
2009 called and it wants its Wade back. Wade looks like he has that old spring in his step, scoring 20 points, doing the majority of his damage in the paint. He also led the Heat with 10 assists, as he was able to draw attention to himself and find open teammates with ease.
Bosh had another double-double, going for 20 points and 10 rebounds, as he continues his hot start to the season. He’s seventh in points per game (23.6) and fifteenth in rebounds (10.3) and has shown no signs of tailing off. The question on whether he could show signs of his old Toronto-self has been answered, so far.
Things that annoyed me: That the Heat didn’t beat the Mavericks by 25. That’s really about it.
Things that perplexed me: No really, the Heat were up by 22 points at one point. Run them out of the gym!
(Sorry, I’m still bitter about 2011. Much like Mavericks owner Mark Cuban seems to still be bitter about 2006.)
Scale of 1 to 10, how bad did I want to throw a lamp because of Mario Chalmers?: 1. Chalmers really made up for his abysmal performance on Saturday (I was at the game, so throwing lamps was out of the question) by hitting his first three 3-pointers on his way to 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Chalmers can shake off bad nights because there’s a chance that he never thinks he has bad nights. He also had 4 assists and 2 steals and helped the Heat get a 28-25 scoring edge off the bench.
What we’ve learned: The Heat are fourth in the NBA in assists per game (23.9) and are clearly at their best when they move the ball around and getting everyone involved. This team won’t succeed trying to beat teams one-on-one, so that extra pass or two will help make the difference this year. Even facing an up and coming team in the West, the Heat showed that they can hang with anyone if they play their game and can establish the pace from the start.
Panic Meter: N/A. Again, this was the Heat’s most complete game of the young season. The efforts of Wade, Bosh, and Deng to spread the wealth on offense, while getting solid contributions from role players like Chalmers, Josh McRoberts (4 points and 8 rebounds), and Udonis Haslem (6 points and 5 rebounds) help go a long way.
The Heat look to win their third in a row by taking on what’s left of the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.