Miami won tonight 108-100 against Boston. Now true Boston isnt that good. But a couple of things occured. The Heat won there ninth straight game. There bench continued to contribute a lot to the win. And they won without Shaq, sitting out with a bruised calf. Miami has had to deal with nine new players this season, and I think they are finally starting to put it together. The old cliche is good teams find a way to win at the end. Well Miami is 16-0 while taking a lead into the 4th quarter. The next two games, in Sac and LA, will determine how good they really are. But I think they are one of the best teams in the league. They are coached extremely well, have Shaq and Wade stepping up nitely, and get great contributions from several players. Im just really looking forward to what they can do in the playoffs, especially Shaq. Im just very eager for Saturday also.
With the way the Miami Heat are playing, and the way the LA Lakers are playing, despite being at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, I cannot foresee the Miami Heat losing this one. Like you said their bench is playing really well right now, and they are really well coached. I expect them to go into LA and grab a win, with or without Shaquille O'Neal. Kobe Bryant cannot outplay, Dwyane Wade, Eddie Jones and Shaquille O'Neal (if he plays) even though he has been putting big time numbers in the last week, averaging: 28.3ppg | 7.8rpg | 9.8apg The LA Lakers offense is just not happening at the present moment, whilst the Miami Heat are winners of their last 9, and their real test will not be beating the LA Lakers, rather going to Arco Arena and beating the Sacremento Kings, who have a rather modest win streak compared to the Miami Heat, 2 and counting. As many would have predicted, so far so good for the Miami Heat, and I too can foresee a Conference Final spot, against whom? Not sure as yet, as we all know what has happened with the Indiana Pacers, and the Detroit Pistons are not playing like NBA champions. I would like to see the New York Knicks in the mix, but this is all speculation, though I do anticipate the Miami Heat to be serious contenders this year. Like I said, so far so good ..........
<font color="Red">Thread moved to Heat Forum for team discussion- Henacy</font> On a side note, nobody truely knows how good the heat are until they beat a Top level team. They got blown out by Minny & Dallas. And San Antonio was up big for most of their matchup against them, but the Heat cut it to single digits late in the 4th when the Subs were on the floor. The Heat have beat alot of Eastern Conference teams. And alot of B Class Western Conference teams like Denver etc. Granted the East competion is what mainly counts for them. But when you are talking about ranking them with the big boys of the league, you have to take in consideration their play against the truely elite. They got Sacramento coming up. And the defending champion Pistons(even tho they are struggling this year), so Heat fans can get a better feel of where this team is at after the next week or so.
Those games agaisnt SA and Dallas were early in the season, and before our team started gelling and playing together the right way. I feel we can beat the elite teams in the West on a consistent basis or keep the games close for that matter. Our team has really grown since the start of the season when we were still learning how to play together properly.
Alright seeing as how they beat the Kings just now(who are better than the Lakers) at the Arco Arena(hardest arena on the road) I have total faith and confidence in the Heat. The Heat at this point seem invincible.
I think the Heat are emerging as one of the best teams now. They beat Sacremento last night on a comeback effort. All they need to do to prove themselves now is to beat Minnesota, San Antonio or another elite team.
They are the best team in the East as of right now. I think since they beat the Kings at Arco Arena like Ace2k2 said they are invincible.
I do agree with the people that think the Heat have to beat the elite in order to become elite. But...they find ways to win in the final quarter, ways that only good teams know how to do. I think they have a very formidable starting five and have a solid bench. Inserting Damon Jones into the starting lineup has completed this team and its interesting to see how complete they will be come playoff time. I remember the chemistry we had last year, evident by todays article in the sun-sentinel, and Im beginning to see signs of that again this season. A lot of credit definately has to go to Van Gundy and the rest of the coaching staff cause they know how to put this team together and get them to play as a team.
Okay, in the East, the Heat are the best. I don't think they are better than the Suns or the Spurs, and I'm still not sure about the Sonics. I will admit that the Lakers are going to have a helluva time beating the Heat tomorrow...but guys, please don't try and make the comparisons to you beating the Kings (saying that the Kings are better than the Lakers...therefore, you guys should win). If you remember right, the Lakers beat a healthy Kings in ARCO on the 16th of this month (last Thursday), and they did it with a score of 115-99 (and that was with Bobby Jackson, Brad Miller and Doug Christie all game). So comparisons like that are irrelevant to who will win the game come Christmas.
I think the Heat are just as good as the Suns and Sonics. Those two teams play a totally different style of basketball than the Heat, and they are successful at it most nights. Miami plays more of a half court offense that slows the pace down mostly, and we are good at that. The Sonics and Suns might be good now, but they will not make it anywhere in the playoffs if they dont learn how to play D, cause thats what the playoffs is about. When you have Shaq on your team, you are automatically one of the best teams in the league, and we proved it by winning 10, soon to be 11, wins in a row. Build a supporting cast around Shaq and I think you have SA, Minnesota, etc., and thats what we have here.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Real Deal:</div><div class="quote_post"> I will admit that the Lakers are going to have a helluva time beating the Heat tomorrow...but guys, please don't try and make the comparisons to you beating the Kings (saying that the Kings are better than the Lakers...therefore, you guys should win). If you remember right, the Lakers beat a healthy Kings in ARCO on the 16th of this month (last Thursday), and they did it with a score of 115-99 (and that was with Bobby Jackson, Brad Miller and Doug Christie all game). So comparisons like that are irrelevant to who will win the game come Christmas.</div> So now we can brag that we beat the team at their home that beat the Kings 115-99 at Arco with All of their key players playing. Life is good
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ace2k2:</div><div class="quote_post">So now we can brag that we beat the team at their home that beat the Kings 115-99 at Arco with All of their key players playing. Life is good </div> Haha, you must mean our key PLAYER. All I'm saying is that the Kings stormed into STAPLES and beat us by a couple of points...and then we raided ARCO and beat them by 16. So, the Heat come into STAPLES and beat us by a couple of points...and then... But aside from that, the second game is still up for grabs, and this first one, although disappointing to most Laker fans, was pretty much my best Christmas gift this year.
The Heat are good. No doubt about it. But as of today, Jan 20, they are 8-9 against the west. That's not impressive. As good as the Heat are, the Suns, (with Nash), the Spurs, and Seattle, and probably Dallas are all better teams.
