Early on in 2012, the Miami Heat are showing signs on and off the court that they are a different team, displaying attributes that championship sides require while taking their positives from last season and expanding greatly.
Starting with the lockout, Heat SF LeBron James worked to improve his image, first by apologizing to NBA fans across the globe for the extravagance of “The Decision” and next by proposing to his girlfriend of a long time on New Years.
The Heat had gaping flaws in their game - not personnel, where they are known for lacking production at center and point guard, but in their instinct. The Heat were well documented for having that lack of a clutch aspect to their game. It seemed like nobody could hit that buzzer beater, LeBron would falter in the fourth quarter, and the team would surrender huge leads late in games, appearing complacent with their talent and believing their output of three quarters would hold its weight.
This year, not only do the Heat have two game winning shots by SG Dwyane Wade, but they have also performed admirably in the fourth quarter. The Heat should have blown out Minnesota and Charlotte in their games away, but they won by a combined three points. The difference is, Miami will have nights where they are tested by lesser opponents, even though the Timberwolves look good early, but last year they would have easily lost these games. In Charlotte, the Heat were down 15 at halftime, only to roar back, and be shot down by a late Gerald Henderson three pointer.
Last season the Heat would have laid down.
Instead, amid a poor night shooting, Wade was shown the ball, and fired a challenging bank shot to take over the game. Forget the loss against Atlanta, no team is going to go 82-0, (or 66-0, whatever) and Wade had a bad night. The Heat sat Wade tonight to rest his foot contusion which is clearly effecting his step and moreover his jump shot, and where the Heat may have struggled without absolute contributions from the Big 3, G/F James Jones slid right into the starting lineup and let it rain from deep, making few remember that Wade was resting.
Jones shot 50% from deep, and scored 14 points, many early, to set the tone for an excellent first half en route to a blowout victory against an Indiana Pacers team that looks sharp this year. PG Mario Chalmers also chipped in with a solid 14 on 6-10 shooting.
The Heat are hitting their jump shots early, and have gotten off to hot starts in almost all of their games. If the snipers in Miami can hit early and build a near double digit lead by the second quarter, there is no doubt that can weigh huge psychological effects on the opposition.
The Heat also have closed games strongly. LeBron is not disappearing like he had in previous seasons, and PF Chris Bosh has shot lights out since his challenges early in the season with a cool 7-11 from the field and 8-8 from the stripe on the way to 22.
The Heat are showing dimensions that they have not yet displayed. They can sink the dagger late, get up high early, play with a better bench, and even throw in a few highlights. The Heat have an excellent chance to face the pesky Hawks, who they will be gunning for in Atlanta, with plenty of killer instinct, Spetsnaz like sniping from deep, and contributions from everyone - King James, to Coach Spo, to the towel boy.
Tags: Chris Bosh, dwyane wade, Gerald Henderson, James Jones, Lebron James, Mario Chalmers