The Miami Heat Power Fankings are a non-scientific, completely subjective ranking of Heat players. Last week in the Miami Heat Power Fankings: Gerald Green goes crazy … Chris Bosh struggles with his shot …Hassan Whiteside begins his down slide … the Heat beat the Knicks twice.
1. Dwyane Wade (last week: 1)
Dwyane Wade had one of his best weeks of the season, averaging 25.7 points while shooting 52.7 percent. He had big games against the Boston Celtics (30 points) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (28 points), the latter in which he outscored Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
It’s not a coincidence that Wade looked fresh in three home games and no back-to-backs, but that’s what we should expect from Wade. Even at age 33.
2. Chris Bosh (last week: 5)
Chris Bosh found is stroke, shooting at a 50 percent clip this last week and averaging 17 points per game to go with eight rebounds per game. Plus/minus-wise, he was Miami’s best player at a plus-12.3 points. He did a nice job against Serge Ibaka and Kevin Love this last week, too, holding them to a combined 14 points on 6-of-22 shooting.
A Penny For Your Thoughts, Pat Riley:
Pat Riley sits in his seat at AmericanAirlines Arena, poised, stoic, not moving…
Simultaneously, both Riley and LeBron James twirl their fingers, feeling the cold metal as they sit and ponder.
LeBron, with his Cavs down anywhere between 16 and 20 points, wonders how the game would be different were he playing. “I just scored 25 points in the fourth quarter against the Pelicans last night,” LeBron thinks to himself. “I’m too tired to play tonight.”
The crowd begins to chant “Bron is tired.”
LeBron hears this. He twirls his fingers.
Meanwhile, Riley sits, fingers crowned with, unlike LeBron, a championship ring.
He hears the chants. He’s not a fan of the lack of sportsmanship, but doesn’t mind it either. He thinks about his time with LeBron in Miami. He thinks about how the Heat will beat the Cavs today after beating Kevin Durant and the Thunder a few nights before.
“Do I even need a super star?”
For a moment, his finger stops mid twirl.
“What am I saying?” Riley thinks as his finger restarts its circular route. “It’s not about need. I want a super star.”
Meanwhile, there is Dragic, finding Chris Bosh on a behind-the-back pass. He just scored 10 points in the first quarter. Tonight, he looks like the third-team all-NBA point guard he was just two years ago. Dragic hits a 3-pointer.
“… a super star.”
Riley looks down at his ring and polishes it with his hand before taking it off and putting it in his suit pocket.
3. Goran Dragic (last week: 7)
This is the Goran Dragic the Heat need. Or, is it the Heat that Goran Dragic needs? Miami fans have complained about Dragic not being worth his $85 million contract, but the Heat haven’t made it easy for him. For much of the season, it has been Wade bringing the ball up and initiating the offense. We’ve seen Dragic doing more of that this week, and is seemingly more comfortable than he’s ever been in Miami.
In the last two games, Dragic had 14 points and seven assists and 17 points and eight assists. He’s also made five of his seven 3-pointers. Erik Spoelstra has given him the keys, so we should see a much better Dragic going forward.
4. Gerald Green (last week: 2)
5. Tyler Johnson (last week: 6)
With 12.3 points per game, Tyler Johnson averaged more points per game this week than both Gerald Green and Hassan Whiteside. He shot an insane 65 percent from the field, including 57.1 percent from beyond the arc. Johnson is the real deal, and he’s performed above expectations ever since the Heat traded Mario Chalmers.
6. Josh McRoberts (last week: not ranked)
We saw the most aggressive version of Josh McRoberts this week than we have all season, averaging eight points per game and 4.3 attempts per game. McRoberts had his first double-digit scoring game of the season when he scored 12 points against the Thunder.
It’s nice to see a more aggressive McRoberts. He may have realized that without the threat of his scoring, doing things like passing and rebounding and the little things he likes to do becomes much more difficult. He found a great balance this last week, so let’s hope it continues.
7. Justise Winslow (last week: 4)
Justise Winslow did a nice job defending Kevin Durant. Though KD scored 25 points, they weren’t easy. Winslow did struggle with his shot this week, with shooting clips of just 27.3-0-42.9. Yeesh. With such lousy percentages, Winslow resorted to glue stuff while many of his teammates were hot.
8. Udonis Haslem (last week: not ranked)
Haslem wanted nothing to do with LeBron after the Heat-Cavs game.
9. Hassan Whiteside (last week: 3)
A tough week for Whiteside, who didn’t score more than 11 points or grab more than nine rebounds in any of Miami’s three games. Teams are starting to take away the Wade-Whiteside pick-and-roll by sagging off Wade and walling off the passing lane to Whiteside with multiple bodies.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the Wade to Whiteside alley oop is extinct, but it’s certainly made things difficult for Miami’s favorite 26-year-old center.
In his frustration, Whiteside remarked that the Heat don’t run plays for him. That doesn’t sit well with fans, and shouldn’t with the team. Opponents are beginning to get in to Whiteside’s head, which seems to be the best way to get him out of games.