HEAT WIN!

HEAT win!

Your Miami HEAT take a White Hot 2-1 series lead after a 114-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers!

LeBron James: 22 points
Dwyane Wade: 18 points and 8 assists
Udonis Haslem: 17 points (8-9 FG) and 7 rebounds
Chris Bosh: 15 points
Mario Chalmers: 14 points and 4 assists
Chris Andersen: 9 points and 9 rebounds

HEAT WIN!

HEAT win!

LeBron James hits a layup at the buzzer to give your Miami HEAT a 103-102 overtime victory over the Indiana Pacers!

LeBron James: 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists
Dwyane Wade: 19 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists
Chris Bosh: 17 points
Chris Andersen: 16 points (7-7 FG), 5 rebounds and 3 blocks
Mario Chalmers: 10 points

HEAT WIN!

HEAT win!

Your Miami HEAT defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 104-91 to take a White Hot 3-0 series lead!

Ray Allen: 23 points (5 3PT FG)

LeBron James: 22 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds

Chris Bosh: 16 points and 14 rebounds

Udonis Haslem: 12 points

Chris Andersen: 11 points and 6 rebounds

HEAT WIN!

HEAT win!

Your Miami HEAT defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 98-86 to take a 2-0 White Hot series lead!

Dwayne Wade: 21 points and 7 rebounds
LeBron James: 19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists
Chris Bosh and Chris Andersen with 10 points and 6 rebounds each
Shane Battier: 10 points
Norris Cole: 7 points 3 rebounds
Ray Allen 7 points 4 assists

HEAT WIN

HEAT win!

Your Miami HEAT defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 110-87 to take a White Hot 1-0 lead in the series!

LeBron James: 27 points (9-11 FG), 10 rebounds and 8 assists
Ray Allen: 20 points and 5 rebounds
Dwyane Wade: 16 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists
Chris Bosh: 15 points and 7 rebounds
Chris Andersen: 10 points and 7 rebounds

Blueprint for Miami Heat Title Repeat Entering 2013 Postseason

The Miami Heat's blueprint for repeating as NBA champions heading into the 2013 postseason is relatively simple.

While compiling a league-best winning percentage of .805 in 2012-13, as compared to .697 a year ago, the Heat have re-established themselves as the league's most dominant unit.

When executing their game plan on a nightly basis, there is no scheme, defensive player or team capable of disrupting that.

Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James are playing their best basketball collectively, while each of Miami's Big Three is shooting a career high from the field.

If they can continue to shoot with a similar efficiency in the playoffs while remaining healthy throughout, the Heat will become nearly impossible to beat.

That becomes even more the case if the supporting cast can limit production from opposing point guards and increase activity on the glass while the reigning MVP continues to dominate.

• Limit the Big Three's Minutes During the Opening Round

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all took time off during the month of April to prepare their bodies for the postseason grind.

On the strength of a 27-game winning streak, Miami earned that opportunity by separating itself from the competition and securing the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs.

So long as James, Wade and Bosh remain healthy, the Heat are deserving title favorites.

During the opening-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, specifically, the Heat could benefit long term by similarly limiting the Big Three's minutes in preparation for the later rounds. 

Despite what Brandon Jennings told the Journal Sentinel earlier this week, there should be plenty of time to rest while the Bucks are swept away.

• Continued Collective Shooting Efficiency from Wade, Bosh and James

Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James have all shot better from the field than ever in 2012-13 at 52.1, 53.5 and 56.5 percent, respectively.

If they are able to maintain this level of efficiency during the postseason, the Heat will be on their way to repeating as NBA champions.

Each of Miami's Big Three sacrificed scoring to join forces in 2010. Bosh (16.6) and Wade (21.2) posted the second-lowest scoring average of their careers this season, while James (26.8) turned in his third-lowest total.

When called upon, though, each superstar has been more reliable than ever scoring the basketball.

• Minimize Impact of Opposing Point Guards

One area where the Miami Heat comparatively struggle is at the point guard position.

From a net production standpoint, according to 82games.com, the point guard position has yielded a minus-1.9 PER for the Heat in 2012-13. 

At every other position—including center—the Heat have earned a positive net PER.

The Heat are also being outscored by opposing point guards 18.5 to 15.7 on average. They outscore their opponents at every other spot on the floor.

The impact opposing point guards have will need to be minimized as the Heat advance deeper into the postseason. 

Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole will be tested early in the opening round by Brandon Jennings. In a potential finals matchup with Russell Westbrook, Tony Parker or Chris Paul, however, they will need to turn in their best collective efforts of the season. 

• Increase Activity on the Glass from the Supporting Cast

The Miami Heat finished last in the NBA in rebounding, collecting only 38.6 per game in 2012-13.

This occurred even with LeBron James averaging a career-high eight rebounds per night himself. 

While the Heat won't need to improve dramatically from a rebounding standpoint in order to repeat as NBA champions, the activity on the glass among the supporting cast does need to increase. 

This means, for example, that Chris Andersen will need to collect at least one more rebound than the 4.1 he averaged during the regular season.

Udonis Haslem will need to similarly improve from 5.4 rebounds and Shane Battier from 2.3, to name a couple key cogs.

• Dominance of a Reigning MVP When It Matters Most

The Miami Heat do not need LeBron James to advance into the second round. 

There will be moments throughout the postseason, however, when the Heat will need the game's most dominant player to make dominant plays.

On his way to earning his first championship and a finals MVP, James did specifically that throughout the 2012 postseason.

While shooting 50 percent from the floor, James averaged 30.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists. More importantly, though, whenever a game-changing play was needed at either end of the floor, James stepped up like an MVP and imposed his will.  

If he can continue his individual dominance when it matters most during this postseason, the Heat will repeat as NBA champions.

Is there a challenge for Heat in NBA playoffs?

Looking for a reason not to pick the Miami Heat to win another NBA title?

Don't check the odds, where the Heat are such an overwhelming favorite that it might as well be Tiger Woods against a weekend hacker.

Definitely don't bother with the Heat's results, which show exactly three losses since the start of February.

And certainly don't look on the court, where LeBron James sent season-long reminders that he's better than ever and already the best in the world.

The only people who might really believe in caution are the Heat themselves.

"There's going to be trials and tribulations no matter what, no matter how good of a team you are," Dwyane Wade said. "There's going to be a moment in the playoffs where our back is going to be against the wall. And I think everything we've done this season will prepare us for that moment. We have a goal, just like every other team that gets into the playoffs, to win a championship. But we understand the process that it takes."

It starts Saturday (Sunday, Manila time), when the playoffs start with four first-round games. The Heat will open Sunday against Milwaukee in what's expected to be a quick series.

Then it will be up to someone like the Knicks, Thunder, Spurs, or some other contender, to prove that the next two months aren't just a formality.

"They've had the best record and they're the defending champs so they're the team to beat, but I don't think it's much beyond that," Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "I mean, give them their due. They have the best record and they're the defending champs, so they're the team that you need to beat, but no, I don't think anybody is head and shoulders over any. There's too many good teams."

New York, which won three out of four from Miami, hosts Boston on Saturday in the playoff opener. The Nets welcome Chicago for the first postseason game in Brooklyn, while the Western Conference has Golden State visiting Denver, and the Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies squaring off in a first-round rematch.

On Sunday, the Lakers go to San Antonio without Kobe Bryant, and defending West champ Oklahoma City faces former Thunder star James Harden and Houston. Indiana and Atlanta meet in the other East game.

Miami went 66-16 and has been so dominant since Super Bowl Sunday that the betting site Bovada gave the Heat opening odds to win the championship that it said were "unheard of in recent years" — and then already had to lower them when most of the action was coming in on the Heat, anyway.

That dropped Miami to a 2-to-3 favorite, meaning a $3 bet only won $2 more. The Heat were 2-to-9 favorites to win the East, where Indiana and Chicago also beat them multiple times during the regular season.

Knicks center Tyson Chandler said the other contenders shouldn't feel slighted by all the experts that are picking the Heat.

"No, not at all. They should pick the Heat," he said. "They're the defending champions and they should get that respect. But that's not what we believe. We haven't believed in that throughout the year. But they should get that respect because they've earned it."

Miami faced plenty of adversity during last season's championship run. They were down 2-1 to Indiana in the second round, with Wade struggling and Chris Bosh injured. The Celtics took a 3-2 lead in the conference finals back to Boston before James fought off elimination with a 45-point performance in Game 6, and the Thunder took the opener of the NBA Finals and nearly rallied two nights later to put the Heat in a 2-0 hole.

But this version of the Heat is much better, and certainly miles above the team that lost in the 2011 finals in the first season with its Big Three. With Ray Allen, Chris Andersen and Rashard Lewis, the Heat have added players who were able to win games for them even when they chose to rest their superstars down the stretch.

"It's a challenge. Look, these guys are really good. They're the world champions," Milwaukee coach Jim Boylan said. "Dwyane Wade has won multiple NBA championships, LeBron is going to win multiple NBA championships before it's all over and let's not forget Chris Bosh and Ray Allen and all the other guys, too. Shane Battier. Great players. They present a large, large number of problems."

There is much more intrigue out West, especially in the two series involving Los Angeles teams. The Clippers and Grizzlies went seven games last year before the Clippers advanced, and this time they have the home-court advantage. The Lakers didn't even clinch a playoff spot until Wednesday, but they won their final five games and look dangerous even without Bryant thanks to the inside play of Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol.

The Lakers and Spurs had one of the NBA's best postseason rivalries in the last decade, and this one could join their list of memorable series.

"We're happy that we're in the playoffs but we're not done yet," Howard said.

The highlight in the East could be in the Boston-New York series. The Knicks ended the Celtics' five-year reign as Atlantic Division champions with their first division title since 1994, with Carmelo Anthony leading the NBA with 28.7 points per game. New York will have to fight off a No. 7 seed hoping it still has a run left with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and trying to give a lift to a hurting city after the Boston Marathon bombings.

"They've been around. They've won. They have a lot of experience," Anthony said. "I think that was one of the reasons that we put together this team that we have with the experience that we have with some of the guys on this team. So right now we want to continue the way that we've been playing."

The winner could emerge as the best hope in the East to beat the Heat — if there is such a thing. Count former NBA coach and ESPN analyst Flip Saunders among those who doubt there is, saying Wednesday on a conference call that he doesn't "see anyone challenging them."

"They've really been off the charts, and the way LeBron is playing," Saunders said. "There's teams that are going to be able to beat them a game or two maybe, but I can't see anyone that has the ability to 

Superstar Talent Hiding Just How Good Miami Heat Really Are

It's easy—and not altogether unfair—to give the lion's share of the credit for the Miami Heat's dominance this season to the star power of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. But the act of attributing Miami's success to the talent of its transcendent trio constitutes a failure to acknowledge a few other key factors.

There will never be a more important component to an NBA team than star-quality talent. But without a sound system, willing role players and good execution, all the talent in the world won't amount to much.

In short, the Heat have pulled off one of the most difficult tricks in sports: They've married elite talent to a well-executed plan. And that's the kind of union that takes a team from "very good" to "historically great."


But First, LeBron

It'd be intellectually dishonest to make the case that the Heat are a good team without James. In fact, all of the evidence shows that they're actually pretty darn bad without him.

Miami's offensive rating with James on the floor is 112.8, a figure that is better than the team's league-best rating of 110.4 on the season. Looking at it that way, it might seem as though LBJ's contributions on offense aren't all that significant.

But a look at how the Heat fare on offense without him quickly highlights James' immense value. With No. 6 on the bench, the Heat score at a rate of 101.4 points per 100 possessions, which would rank 19th in the NBA on the season.


Defensively, James makes the Heat nearly four points per 100 possessions better.

You can run down the stat sheet, and the story will be the same. Miami's assist ratio goes up, its turnover rate goes down and its true-shooting percentage differs by a full five percent—all depending on whether James is on the court.

You can file all of the preceding information in the "Hardly a Newsflash" folder. Everybody knows James makes the Heat go. But it's still worthwhile to preface an analysis of the other reasons for Miami's excellence by first mentioning the biggest one.





Something's Different

Obviously, Miami has plenty of talent. But the way the team is using it has changed this season.

According to Grantland's Zach Lowe, the Heat have all but abandoned a staple of NBA offense in favor of a more unpredictable approach:

"Predictable offenses just aren't good enough anymore against elite competition; that's why Miami no longer runs simple LeBron James-Chris Bosh pick-and-rolls while the other three Heat players just stand around—something that happened a lot in the 2011 Finals against Dallas."

Instead, the Heat now employ lots of decoy action to bait defenses into overloading the strong side. When that happens, their ball-handlers are highly adept at quickly whipping a skip pass to the weak side for an open three-point look.

Watch a Miami game and you'll certainly notice how often the ball swings from side to side. But the numbers show that the offense is different, too.

Last season, the Heat shot about 16 threes per game. But in 2012-13, Miami has been casting away nearly 22 times per contest. Those extra triples are a direct result of an increased emphasis on ball movement and a willingness to make the quick pass to the weak-side corner.

It's not surprising that Miami's assists per game have gone up from about 20 per game in 2011-12 to 23 this season, despite the fact that the team's slower pace this year has resulted in about one fewer offensive possession per game.

Ultimately, the Heat have made the conscious effort to value unselfishness and trust over a more isolation-heavy style. The result has been a more balanced, less predictable offense.




The Other Guys

Of course, the changes in Miami's style wouldn't count for much if it didn't have supporting players who were capable of carrying them out.

Specialists abound on the Heat, and their willingness to sacrifice for the greater good is yet another indicator of how fully the players have bought into the team concept.

Shane Battier essentially does one of two things on offense: shoots threes or quickly moves the ball to the next shooter when he's not open. That might seem like a role anybody could fill, but Battier has done it at a remarkably high level.

Just how specialized is Battier's role? Well, he takes five shots per game. Of those attempts, 4.4 of them are from beyond the arc.

He's hitting 42.5 percent of his triples this year and has played terrific defense on the other end.

Ray Allen's job is similar—except for the defense part—and Chris Andersen has been a hugely valuable interior presence whose only job is to do the dirty work.

The stars have been great, but Miami's role players have been just as good in their own, more limited ways.

The Man with the Plan

It's funny how the public perception of a coach can change so quickly. Until Erik Spoelstra won a championship with the Heat last season, he seemed like a seat-warmer for whichever big-name coach team president Pat Riley was eventually going to bring in.

But now that he has his ring, Spoelstra is regarded as one of the sharpest young coaches around.

Looking at his overall results does give a good indication of Spoelstra's fitness for the job, but the better indicators are a little subtler. Consider the following: After winning a ring, Spoelstra shredded Miami's offensive system, eschewed a conventional lineup and basically started over from scratch.

How many coaches would have done that?

Spoelstra's bold moves illustrated his understanding of the defensive changes that were happening in the league and showed that he had the foresight to work out a way to stay ahead of the game. Toss in the way he's dealt with outsized expectations and juggled the egos of his stars, and it's clear: Spoelstra really is an elite coach.


The Sum of the Parts

There's no getting around the fact that the Heat are a dominant team because of their superstar talent. But there's so much more going on in Miami from a strategic and team-building perspective.

Stars will always matter, but it's time the other reasons for Miami's success got a little shine.




--CREDITS: http://bleacherreport.com

HEAT WIN!

HEAT win!

Your Miami HEAT defeat the Chicago Bulls 103-93 for their 6th consecutive victory!

LeBron James: 24 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists
Dwyane Wade: 22 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals
Chris Andersen: 15 points and 7 rebounds
Mario Chalmers: 15 points and 5 assists
Chris Bosh: 12 points and 9 assists
Mike Miller: 11 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists