Heat on Hot Streak

D-Wade put on a show against the Kings, scoring 36 points

     LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh have all been hearing it from the critics and nay-sayers all season long. But it has been kind of quiet lately. The reason is because the Heat have won eight consecutive games, their best stretch of basketball thus far this season. During that span, no opponent had surpassed the 100 point mark. Something also worth mentioning is the defense the Heat have been playing. During the four game road-trip, opponents have been held down to an average of 85.8 points per game.

D-Wade to LeBron. Get used to it.

     Before heading on the four-game road-trip, the Heat had already won four straight games. The goal was to come out of the road-trip perfect, doubling the win streak total. The first game was against the defensive-minded Milwaukee Bucks. It was definitely a great defensive game for the Heat as they held the Bucks to only 34% from the field. The Heat also held the Bucks to just 78 points as they won 88-78. D-Wade led the way with 25 points while LeBron added 17 and Bosh 16. As I mentioned in the previous post, the key to winning was containing Brandon Jennings. The Heat did just that. Jennings finished with 13 points, shooting a miserable 5-16 from the field.

LeBron drives against a Jazz defender

     The Utah Jazz were next up. They had defeated the Heat earlier this season-- coming back from a 20+ point deficit. Miami didn't forget what happened earlier this season, especially LeBron. King James lit up the Jazz with 33 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as the Heat defeated the Jazz, 111-98. D-Wade chipped in with 28 points and Bosh with 14 points. Good thing the big three brought their A-game because Deron Williams and Al Jefferson brought theirs. They scored 21 and 25 points, respectively. The win gave the Heat their third straight road win, sixth straight overall.
     The Heat then headed up to northern Cali. They easily took care of business out there- first defeating the Golden State Warriors on Friday night, 106-84 and then the Sacramento Kings the next night, 104-83. D-Wade led the way in both games with 34 points in the win against the Warriors and 36 in the win against the Kings. With those two wins, the Heat improved their record to 17-8, second best in the Eastern Conference behind the Boston Celtics. The win also gave them their eighth straight victory.
     After the win on Saturday night, D-Wade had this to say about the team's defense: "We are getting on the same page. It took time, we knew it was going to take time for everyone to understand the concepts of what we do defensively here, how our rotations work. I think we said earlier in the year it would take between 20 to 25 games and we're around that mark."

The Heat will have a chance to avenge their loss against the Hornets

    Miami is definitely streaking right now. They will return back home with their win streak on Monday to face the New Orleans Hornets, who had previously defeated them earlier this season. Again, the key to winning will be stopping the point-guard--all-star Chris Paul,-- or at least, containing him. If the Heat want to win their ninth straight game, they must continue to play the way they have been playing during the streak-- stingy defense and an uptempo offensive game.