By: Matt Pineda

LeBron James put together another great efficient game as the HEAT beat the Bulls in Chicago to win their 9th straight game and improve to 38-14.

The HEAT overcame a sluggish start to the game to lead for most of the game.  Sloppy play plagued both teams early, combining for 15 turnovers in the first quarter.  But it was the Bulls who continued their sloppy play, and Miami eventually got it together.  The HEAT led by 10 points at halftime with balanced scoring from James, Wade, Bosh and Chalmers who each chipped in 7 or more points.

In the second half, Miami held a 14 point lead for much of the half, give or take a few points.  The HEAT’s second unit had a strong showing tonight, as they were able to push the lead each time LeBron sat for the first 4+ minutes of the second and fourth quarter. Ray Allen and Norris Cole combined for 19 points.

The HEAT pushed their lead to 20 points late in the fourth quarter as the Bulls couldn’t make many shots and continued to turn the ball over.  Without Rose and Hinrich, they struggled for offensive flow from Nate Robinson and Teague.  The Bulls had 26 turnovers, a high for a HEAT opponent this season.

Dwyane Wade was mildly efficient shooting 8-15 and scoring 17 points.  Chris Bosh had a quiet 12 points, but was effective offensively spacing the floor.  Chalmers scored all 8 of his points in the first quarter.  The low moment in the game was when James got out on a fast break and Nate Robinson caught up to him to give him a rough, but not dirty foul.  James came up limping as he probably got a Charlie-horse and the crowd began to cheer.  A very class-less display by a fan base who should appreciate the health of an MVP.

When it was all said and done, the HEAT won the game 86-67, their best defensive effort of the season.

Game MVP: LeBron James

LeBron was again, himself.  He scored 26 points, had 12 rebounds, and collected 7 assists.  He scored when he wanted to, had his jump shot going and never let circumstances get the best of him.

Next Up: 

The HEAT will be in Philadelphia to take on the Sixers on Saturday night.  The game starts at 7:30pm.

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By: Steve Ranwsley

It took a while for the Heat to get rolling, but when they did, they could not be stopped. In their first game since the All-Star break, the Heat looked like they were still on vacation for most of the first three quarters. However, in the fourth quarter everything changed.

The Heat have that rare ability to flip the switch sometimes, and they did just that. Heading into the fourth quarter they were down by ten. However, in the fourth quarter, they forced the Hawwks to turn the ball over a lot, and when the Heat force turnovers, they are nearly impossible to beat. LeBron and Wade got a lot of easy baskets for themselves in the open court after the turnovers. The Heat outscored the Hawks 40-17 in the fourth quarter to make it look like a blowout, when for most of the game it was relatively close.

There were two negatives in the game for the Heat. The recurring theme of getting outrebounded came up again tonight, as they lost on the boards 42-33. The other negative was Chris Bosh was mediocre, scoring only six points and having six
boards. He did not have a field goal till the second half of the fourth quarter. Shane Battier and Ray Allen stepped up for the Heat scoring 32 points combined, and hitting seven threes from downtown.

On the other end, Al Horford played very well for the Hawks getting 27 points on only 15 field goal attempts, along with nine boards.  Miami trailed by 10 going into the fourth quarter, but opened with a 9-0 spurt.  They went on a huge run and scored 40 points in the quarter.

The HEAT won the game 103-90 and improved to 37-14.

MVP: LeBron James

Stop me if you have heard him mentioned in the MVP section of a recap. Oh you have? It is quite common? It is funny how he is so great, even a 24 points 11 assist, and 4 steal game seems boring. He kept the Heat in the game, and then helped lead the attack in the fourth quarter.

Key Stat: 10 of 23 from downtown

As mentioned earlier, Ray Allen and Shane Battier led the outside attack going 7-14 from downtown. Mario Chalmers chipped in going 2-4.

Next Up:

The HEAT take on the Bulls in Chicago Thursday night at 8PM.  The game is nationally televised on TNT.

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By: Matt Blue

Every time we think we’ve seen it all from LeBron James, he does something else so astounding that it leaves us in awe of his all-around basketball skills, intelligence and instincts for the game. Against the Blazers Tuesday night, the King became the first player in NBA history to average at least 30 points on 60 percent shooting six straight times. This remarkable feat has never been done by the game’s previous and current greats. Yes we are all witnesses.

Not only was history made tonight, but the HEAT also took care of business against a quality Blazers team by a final of 117-104. Neither team was very interested in playing defense in this one. The score certainly reflects this assertion. However, offensively the HEAT fired on all cylinders and executed their half-court offense extremely well.

LeBron James scored 30 points on 11-15 shooting. Chris Bosh also had a tremendous night finishing with 32 points and 11 rebounds. Who said he couldn’t rebound? Dwyane Wade was also terrific, finishing with 24 points. This happened to be the HEAT’s 1,000^th regular season win in team history.

The Blazers dynamic trio of Wesley Matthews, LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard led the way for Portland. Lillard led all Portland scorers with 33 points, while Aldridge added 29 and Wesley Matthews finished with 20.

Despite the Blazers valiant efforts, the HEAT just proved to be way too much for Portland. Miami HEAT basketball was on display tonight which consisted of getting out in transition, finishing strong around the rim and picking defenses apart off the dribble and with sound ball movement.

MVP of the Game- LeBron James- He went into the record  books tonight with another dazzling performance for the ages. When it’s all said and done, will we propel James ahead of Jordan? Right now it’s way too premature to make that comparison.

Lights out- Chris Bosh- Chris had a monster performance. The fact that he compiled 11 rebounds was very encouraging.

Tough Night: Blazers defense- The HEAT is the toughest team in the NBA to contain defensively mainly due to all of the explosive offensive weapons they have. We are talking about having to defend three superstar players and a bunch of capable outside shooters.   Tonight they Blazers just looked befuddled defensively. How do you rotate against Miami? Basically you find yourself in a situation where you have to pick your poison and choose who is going to beat you. Because the bottom-line is that someone is going to beat you on the HEAT.

Game Note- Udonis Haslem left the game with a lower leg contusion in the first quarter. X rays on Haslem’s shin were negative.

NEXT UP: The HEAT will travel to Oklahoma City for a Valentine’s Day Matchup veruses the Thunder. The game starts at 8 PM on TNT

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By: Pedro Heizer (@pedroheizer)

In the last stop of their “Grammy Road trip”, the struggling Lakers looked to get back on track with a win over the defending NBA Champions. The Lakers desperately needed a win as it would build momentum for their second-half of the season playoff run.

That was the case, in the first half at least.

The Lakers came out strong in the first half, after two quarters Miami and Los Angeles were all tied up at 53.

Kobe, who’s been under a lot of heat lately, was once again Kobe, the facilitator, finishing the game with a game-high nine assists to go with his 28 points.

Earl Watson, who kept the Lakers in the game to start, finished with 18 points, and nine rebounds. Dwight Howard and Steve Nash also each scored 15 for the Lakers.

For Miami, the dynamic duo of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James was once again sensational. Wade and James combined for 62 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and six steals. The domination by both players on both ends of the floor was essential for the Heat in a game that was close until the end.

“They have a couple of sensational players over there that made some big plays,” Bryant said.

Wade had five straight points for Miami, the last of them coming with 7:15 left when his three-point play put the Heat up 89-82.

“D-Wade came and he just started cooking in the fourth quarter,” Bryant said. “He started doing what D-Wade does and made sensational play after sensational play.”

Wade’s partner, LeBron James, had a historic night of his own.

The game was James’ fifth straight game with at least 30 points, a franchise record. He also joined Adrian Dantley (1979) and Moses Malone (1982) as the only NBA players to score at least 30 and shoot at least 60 percent in five straight outings.

“Don’t take it for granted,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s making greatness look easy.”

Mario Chalmers scored 13 and Chris Bosh finished with a quiet 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Game MVP: LeBron James

This award tonight could have been given to either Wade or James, who both were equally fantastic. However, LeBron made history tonight by setting the Heat franchise record with five straight games with at least 30 points. And as stated earlier, he also joined Adrian Dantley (1979) and Moses Malone (1982) as the only NBA players to score at least 30 and shoot at least 60 percent in five straight outings.

LeBron scored Miami’s last 11 points of the third, all in the final 4:20, and four of those came in the last six seconds.

LeBron finished the night with 32 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Lights Out: Dwyane Wade

Wade finally looks like the Wade of old.

After his knee surgery in July, it looked as if Wade had lost a step or two but these past couple of games it looks like Wade is finally getting his hops back.

Wade finished with 30 points, two rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

Cold Night: Steve Nash and Ray Allen

Yes, Nash had 15 points, I know. But the number that jumps out at me is the two assists he had. Nash is averaging 7.2 assists per game and Kobe Bryant had more assists than him… Something is wrong with this picture.

Allen had only two points, was 0-2 from the three-point line… Cold indeed.

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