BEST OF LAST NIGHT: Dwyane Wade's form
Wade scored 21 points in 22 minutes and looked sharp doing it. He was 9 of 13 from the field and had five assists and three rebounds. It was Wade's best game since offseason knee surgery. He has now played in three straight games. At this point, Wade wants to strength the muscles around his knee and work on his conditioning. Wade had 15 points in the first half and and 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting in the first quarter.
And Wade's Chinese fans can rest easy, he can still dunk — one flush in the first quarter and one in the second. (While in China, the Chinese media was very concerned with Wade missing dunks in both Beijing and Shanghai.)
WORST OF LAST NIGHT: Ray Allen off his game
Allen went 3 of 11 from the field and 1 of 5 from three-point range. He had seven points in 22 minutes. Maybe it was just an off night; maybe Allen is still adjusting to coming off the bench. Allen was first player off the bench and was paired with two other guards on the court, Wade and Norris Cole. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra went with the same rotation pattern in the third quarter. It's clear the Heat is still getting used to having Allen on the team. They don't exactly seem to know what to do with him yet. The signature single- and double-screens Boston ran for Allen haven't been completely integrated yet by the Heat.
LINE OF THE NIGHT: Chris Bosh — 17 points (4 of 7 from the field; 9 of 10 from the free-throw line), 6 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 block. Mr. Random found his shots and knocked them down.
ANALYSIS: Thursday was the Heat's fifth game of the preseason and the first to somewhat resemble a normal game. The rotations were consistent (by Spoelstra standards) and the intensity was there. With that as a backdrop, it was interesting to see point guard Garrett Temple and center Josh Harrellson receive significant minutes. Of the Heat's players fighting for roster spots, Temple and Harrellson received the most playing time. Temple made the most of his time, scoring seven points in 12 minutes. He did commit five fouls, however. Harrellson drained a three-point, scored five points and had five rebounds in 15 minutes.
ABOUT THE OTHER GUYS: Pistons shot 35.2 percent from the field and 12.5 percent from three-point range. One good take away was the play of rookie Andre Drummond off the bench. He had nine points on 4 of 8 shooting to go along with eight rebounds. Not good from Drummond: five fouls in 19 minutes.
DUNK OF THE NIGHT (Thanks to NBACalifornia)
Jason Terry went 5 of 5 from 3 last night. I love it.
Posted by: KWAPT | Friday, October 19, 2012 at 09:48 AM
I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT BRON IS MY GUY AND WE NEED TO KEEP YOU HERE... AND TO THE LAKERS: STOP HATING... WE WINNING TITLES OVA HERE... WATCHING ALL THINGS HEAT... TITLE RUN 2013... 007...
Posted by: black the trucker | Friday, October 19, 2012 at 01:03 PM
I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT BRON IS MY GUY AND WE NEED TO KEEP YOU HERE... AND TO THE LAKERS: STOP HATING... WE WINNING TITLES OVA HERE... WATCHING ALL THINGS HEAT... TITLE RUN 2013... 007...
Posted by: black the trucker | Friday, October 19, 2012 at 01:05 PM
What does Jason Terry have to do with anything related to this blog?
Posted by: Brian | Friday, October 19, 2012 at 01:27 PM