Heat dominate the Nets 104-95 Another fabulous game for the Heat which was played very similar to the Seattle game this past Friday night. We led almost the entire game until the Nets came within 4 in the final quarter which then triggered Lamar's first field goal of the game followed by a monster tomahawk slam and then a huge triple to tie the game by EJ after a sloppy turnover when inbounding the ball. Both teams had a fantastic night shooting the ball, the Nets shot almost 52% from the field and the Heat shot almost 54%. We also shot 9-14 from downtown as opposed to the Nets shooting 7-21. Keeping them off the free throw line and not commiting clumsy fouls were key to us winning tonight. We also out-rebounded them by 10 and destroyed them on the offensive boards, thanks to Brian and Udonis. We controlled the entire game and did not allow the Nets to play the fast paced type of game that they're notorious for. We had 25 fast break points as opposed to their 10, and if you're wondering, no there were not any alley-oops from New Jersey . Skip hit 3 triples from downtown has extended his streak of at least 1 three pointer in a game to 33, which also happens to tie the franchise record Tim Hardaway set back in the day. He will hopefully break the record this Tuesday against New Orleans. He was a major presence on defense coming up with 3 huge steals and was flirting with a double double dishing out 9 assists and coming up with 13 points. There isn't much to say about Eddie other than this was just a typical day in the office and a classic EJ performance. Nothing out of the ordinary, he was the star tonight with 23 points going 4-7 from downtown. Dwyane actually started the game tonight, but not surprisingly he played a mere 29 minutes. When the Nets were starting to come back during crunch time in the 4th, he sat on the bench watching Skip and Eddie run the show. Dwyane had some big plays and played a solid game, it's good to see he's finally coming out of the slump he was in these past couple games coming off his injury. He had 16 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 boards. Caron was back in his true form tonight coming up with some big plays, including a couple of highlight dunks and a three pointer which put the nail in the coffin with about two or so minutes left in the 4th quarter. His jump shot has been a liability all season, but not tonight. He went 7-13 from the field coming up with 18 points while pulling down 6 boards and 4 steals. Lamar was solid tonight on defense but struggled on offense not scoring his first field goal until late in the 4th quarter, but in his defense he did get to charity stripe a lot shooting 9-12 from the free throw line. Lamar's burst of energy in the 4th quarter when the Nets came within 4 is what really pulled us away and sealed the game. He had 15 points, pulled down 7 boards, had 2 steals and 3 assists. He definitely had the dunk of the night where he threw it down hard on a monster tomahawk slam, when he did that the famous words of Bill Walton came into my head... . UUUdonis had 7 points and 8 boards, 6 of those boards came on the offensive end and he also dished out 1 assist. He was big for us, those 6 offensive boards were absolutely crucial tonight. Brian Grant had a decent game with 7 points and 8 boards, there really isn't much to say about his performance tonight, just like Eddie, it was another typical Brian Grant performance and nothing was out of the ordinary. The bad news in all of this is that the Knicks, Cavs, and Raptors won today. This win tonight against Jersey was CRITICAL for us to remain in the playoff race. Unfortunately the Knicks play the Wizards on tuesday which is almost a guaranteed win for them, and likewise goes for the Cavs when they take on the Bulls. We play the Hornets on Tuesday and we desperately need to win that game, and i'm very confident that we will. I've read a few articles regarding this game and it just makes me sick how all the sports writers, even the ones for the Heat, are making excuses for New Jersey winning. Is it really that hard to admit you got out played? We beat the Kings last week, so it's not a long shot in the least bit for us to have beaten the Nets tonight . I don't want to hear any Nets fans coming into this thread saying the only reason we won was because the Nets didn't have K-Mart, because you know what, the Heat didn't have Dwyane Wade when we lost to the Nets in New Jersey a few weeks ago and we didn't make excuses.
Looks like these "bottom feeder" teams in the East are all getting real hot. Very nice win by the Heat, I had them counted out in this one.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James:</div><div class="quote_post">Looks like these "bottom feeder" teams in the East are all getting real hot.</div> Yeah, like the Cavs .
I just saw NBA Fastbreak on ESPN, and tonight it was Kevin Frazier's turn to choose the dunk of the night, and he gave it to DWYANE WADE's massive posterization of Scalabrine .
Haha die Scalabrine die, excellent game, Wade got in early foul trouble (3 in the 1st half), and so did Jefferson. Wade had a pretty solid game though 16 points (6-9), 4 dimes and 2 steals. The story for the Heat though were Eddie Jones, Rafer and Caron Butler?? Did Caron just hit a three today, third of the season baby!! Caron scored 18 points (7-13), and had 6 rebounds and 4 steals. EJ had had 23 points (9-15), and Rafer had 13 points (5-10 FG, 3-4 3PT), and 9 assists. Rasual hit two shots, the three from the dish by Wade (I think), and the jumper after he turned around from the post up, they were some nice baskets, 48.6% 3PT, and 48.6% FG, thats some good stuff. We took charge in the 2nd half and defeated the Kenyonless Nets, now bring on New Orleans.
Without K-mart we have know frontline or interior scoring what so ever. I knew the Heat were going to pull this one out from the start. Rodney Rodgers tried to hold down the low post in the 1st half but he didnt really contribute anything in the 2nd half. It would have been nice if Aaron Williams would have stepped up to provide a little more offense in the low post of the bench. I think Wade out played Kidd in the last game. But the Nets were still able to win because of K-mart's performance. But I knew this time with K-mart out J.Kidd had to win the point guard matchup but he didnt. Wade/Skip out played him. RJ had a good game on the perimeter but Eddie Jones match him. So the game came down to the teams other perimeter options. Caron Butler stepped up for the Heat. Kerry Kittles didnt step up for the Nets. With K-mart out the Nets gave up way to many points off penetration. K-mart pressence in the paint would have prevented some off those easy baskets in the lane that the Heat had. But hey, its like arguing split Milk its really no use it already happened. Good win by the Heat. The season matchups between the 2 teams are done now. Both teams won 2-4 games. And three of the 4 games were extremely interesting. Their were alot of good matchups like K-mart/odom(especially in the game right before the all-star break). Kidd battling against your 2 young pg's has been interesting too. And in the 3rd & 4th matchups Caron Butler & RJ really went at each other. I think as the Heat continue to improve they will be a major test for the Nets because all the Heat top players play the same positions as the Nets top players. It always going to make for an interesting matchups.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting InNETSweTrust:</div><div class="quote_post">No KMart=big trouble for the Nets. But great win though. </div> Agreed.
He was a game time decision against the Heat. But his ankle was too sore and of course the left knee tendinitis is still bothering him but he said that there's a great possibility that he'll play against the Kings. Oh and Accord, I'm not making up an excuse that the only reason you won was because of KMart's absence. I'm always nervous if we're playing the Heat even with KMart. But you have to agree that it was an easier win coz KMart is WAY BETTER than Rogers in terms of post offense and defense.
Yes, Heat are on a winstreak again! Now we're in big playoff contention, hopefully we can keep this up. Our next game vs. New Orleans is our last hard one, after this there's a chance for us to win all the games after this!!
