The 3 pt shooters Miller and Battier both went 3-5 from down town, and Chalmers had 13 points himself. It seems against Tyson Chandler, Spoelstra is not going to the Haslem “from the free throw line” jumper shot or the baseline jumper he is usually fed. So far its smart and working. Bosh was particularly big tonight with 21pts, but getting several inside the paint, but did hit a 3 with the clock winding down.

The reason for the win and lack of lead giveback was Wade. He attacked the whole time while being stealthy and avoiding the big contested shots. That was left for Lebron to take on. Wade also controlled the ball several times in the 4th quarter.

Currently the strategy is working and the defense is stifling.

In other news, Amare punched a fire extinguisher.

Who on the Heat are you most impressed with so far?

It really wasn’t a big concern for Wade to sit out the entire second half, since the Heat had a lead of about 30 points and complete control of the
game. Bosh and LeBron had strong enough games to off set Wade being out. It also gave the Heat a chance to play guys at the end of their bench that don’t get to play much, like James Jones and Eddy Curry. Curry had an alley-oop late in the fourth quarter that got everyone up off the bench.

Last night, a very injury depleted Atlanta Hawks team came to Miami to play on the second night of Miami’s back-to-back. The Hawks only had 10 players dressed for the game and were without All Stars Joe Johnson and Al Horford. Also missing for them last night was Tracy McGrady, who had played great against the Heat in the previous three match ups this season.

Wade was back in action last night, but he and Bosh both had their troubles shooting the ball. They were a combined to go 10-31 from the field in the game. LeBron finished the game with 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 assists. Though Wade got off to a slow shooting night, he still filled up the stat sheet with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. He also had a huge block on Jerry Stackhouse, while he was attempting a three point shot from the corner and Wade sent it right back down towards his face.

“We needed one of these games,” James said. “It’s about time we had one of these games where we had to fight for every minute, all the way down the stretch…It was good for us to close this game out.”

The game got very physical during the third quarter when LeBron and Zaza Pachulia mixed it up. Zaza was hit with a technical foul for instigating it and you could tell it only motivated LeBron even more. Carolina Panthers quarterback, Cam Newton, was sitting courtside and at times during the game it seemed as if he wanted to get on the court in all the action.

This was the 11th straight home victory for the Heat and they are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the second best home record in the league at 17-2. One streak ended though and that was the Heat making a three point shot. They had done it since April 6, 2006, and that included 455 regular season games and 60 playoff games, but it is over now.

The Jazz came out quick against the Heat on Friday night and hit the offensive glass very well, better than any other team this year against the
Heat. That really proved to be the downfall to the game for Miami. They didn’t have anyone in there to box out, who was tall enough to grab the
rebound as well. Utah showed off its length against Miami as it grabbed rebound after rebound, and even at a point in the second half had more offensive rebounds than the Heat had total rebounds.

The game was very out of hand, until LeBron went on a run in the second half to bring Miami back into it, and even take a lead late in the fourth
quarter. Big shot after big shot, he continued to hit them over and over. It got to the point that when he missed a shot it was more of a shock. Unfortonitly, Dwyane Wade had two tough fouls he committed late in the game against Devin Harris, which helped the Jazz win the game. The
first was Wade hitting Harris on a three point shot, where he made 2 of 3 free throws and the second was when Harris was shooting a runner in the
lane and Wade hit his hand on the release, making it a three point play for the Jazz. The Heat did have a final shot to win it, and coach Spoelstra
drew up a very nice play to give Haslem an open shot. The only problem is he missed.

Then last night the Heat were in Los Angeles, after a day off to recoup from the one point loss to the Jazz. Just as Utah did on Friday night, the
Lakers jumped out to an early start and the Heat never really had control of the game. Miami did make a change to the starting lineup though, with Udonis Haslem getting the start instead of Shane Battier who started on Friday night. It gave the Heat more size, but proved to not matter with the Lakers just looking so much bigger at stronger at almost every position. Kobe Bryant was poised to show everyone who the best player on the court was and he did a great job of it. The mask Bryant is wearing to protect his broken nose from the All Star game has had him playing some of the best basketball of the season, scoring over 30 points in each game since the All Star game.

The Heat come back to Miami tomorrow to play in front of the home crowd at American Airlines Arena, and hope to have Bosh back in the line up as well.

The game got tight late in the fourth quarter and that is when we really saw the stars come out to play. The West had a closing lineup of Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and Blake Griffin. The East finished the game with Deron Williams, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwight Howard. The West seemed to be giving the ball to Kobe and Durant, while the East kept going through LeBron.

Toward the end of the game, the field for MVP was narrowed down to Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade. Each of them had amazing games in a few different ways. Durant put on a scoring exibition. The game was made for him, with his coach on the sidelines and teammate Russell Westbrook there to feed him the ball throughout the night. He finished with 36 points and 7 rebounds. Kobe finished with 27 points, but his big claim to fame from the game was he passed Michael Jordan for most points scored all time in All Star games. He now stands alone as the player to have scored the most points of anyone. LeBron had a fantastic game like he usually does. Few players get as pumped up for this game as LeBron does. During the game the commentators mentioned LeBron with Kobe and Jordan as three guys that really got up and wanted to win this game every year. LeBron finished with 36 points and scored the bulk of them during the third quarter, which included a number of off balance three pointers. Wade graced everyone with a triple-double. He finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

All in all it was a fantastic evening and the players put on a great show for all of the fans watching.

Skills Competition – This event is one that continues to grow in popularity each year. Tony Parker took the title this year, as he showed off his ability to shoot, pass, dribble, and run with great speed.

Three Point Competition – The best of the best shooters in the NBA were all there to compete. The top three that went into the second round were James Jones, Kevin Love, and Kevin Durant. Jones was then knocked out and in the finals Love outshot Durant to win the event. It was great to see Love win as he isn’t your typical winner for this event.

Slam Dunk Contest – The night always finishes with the Dunk Contest and this year was no different. Jeremy Evans, Chase Budinger, Paul George, and Derrick Willams each dunked in the contest. This year was a little different from the past, with the four dunkers each dunking three times in one round of competition. Jeremy Evans had the dunk of the night when his teammate Gordon Hayward was sitting in a chair in front of the basket and passed two basketballs into the air as Evans jumped over him and dunked both of the balls into the basket. Other than that it was a somewhat weak event and everyone hopes that next year brings some elite players into the contest.

After that game was the Rising Stars Challenge. This was the first year things were changed up a bit. In the past, the Rookies played the Sophomores, but this year It was Team Shaq vs. Team Chuck. Shaq and Charles Barkley each drafted teams from players pre selected in their first and second years. Team Chuck led the entire game, and he was sure to let Shaq know it. Jeremy Lin started the game for Shaq’s team, but played limited minutes due to the fact that we played the prior two nights. Shaq also had Blake Griffin on his team, but his minutes were limited as well, because he was playing on Sunday night as well. John Wall but on a great show with some of his dunks, but the MVP of the night was Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was 8 for 8 from 3 point range and led Team Chuck in scoring. It was a great start to All Star Weekend for the NBA.

Miami got fantastic play last night from the point guard position. Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole played outstanding, hitting open shots and finding open teammates. The two combined for 32 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals. Chalmers tied a career high with six 3 pointers made during the game. The Heat had six players in double figure scoring last night, led by Dwyane Wade’s 30 points. He also added 10 assists as well. “It was a good game for me, just trying to be aggressive and was able to get my teammates some shots,” said Wade. “And I was also able to continue do what I’ve been doing the last couple games, just taking high-percentage shots and making them.”

Chris Bosh recorded a double-double as well with 20 points and 10 rebounds. LeBron James filled the stat sheet as well with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 blocks. Udonis Haslem finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds, but none more important than his second and third rebounds. With the second rebound he tied Rony Seikaly for second all time in Heat history for rebounds and on the third he passed him by. At Haslem’s current rate, he will become the all time leader for rebounds in Heat history on the final game of the regular season. He would only need 33 games and that happens to be the exact number of games left this season, and the number Alonzo Mourning wore during his playing days. Coincidence?

Next up for the Miami Heat are the New York Knicks and Jeremy Lin. Today should bring a packed house to American Airlines Arena. “It’s going to be fun,” James said. “It’s going to be electrifying…It could be one of the most-watched games that we’ve had in a long time.”

The NBA changed the way the contest will be done this year as well. Each dunker will have 3 dunks in a one round competition, as opposed to the previous years of 2 rounds. It will also all be up to the fans, as the judges there will have no say on who the actual winner is.

A much flashier and more popular group for this competition could have looked something like Blake Griffin, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Rudy Gay, but that quartet will have to only compete against each other in our imaginations, as it doesn’t look like people will ever get their dream scenario.

Be ready to jump out of your seats!

Jones and Chalmers will be joined by Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love, New Jersey Nets guard Anthony Morrow, Orlando Magic forward Ryan Anderson, and recently added Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant. Durant is replacing Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson who will be forced to miss this event and the All Star Game because of an injury to his knee.

Anderson would seem to be the favorite going into the event, because he leads the league in threes made and attempted this season, but with this type of event it really gives anyone a shot at winning. No one last year expected Jones to knock off Ray Allen or Paul Pierce, but he did and brought another Three Point Championship back to Miami.

LeBron James (East) 13/2

Dwight Howard (East) 15/2

Kobe Bryant (West) 15/2

Kevin Durant (West) 7/1

Blake Griffin (West) 9/1

Derrick Rose (East) 9/1

Dwyane Wade (East) 12/1

Chris Paul (West) 14/1

Dirk Nowitzki (West) 16/1

Carmelo Anthony (East) 18/1

Andrew Bynum (West) 20/1

Russell Westbrook (West) 20/1

Paul Pierce (East) 22/1

Kevin Love (West) 25/1

Chris Bosh (East) 25/1

Tony Parker (West) 25/1

Deron Williams (East) 30/1

LaMarcus Aldridge (West) 30/1

Steve Nash (West) 30/1

Joe Johnson (East) 40/1

Luol Deng (East) 40/1

Andre Iguodala (East) 45/1

Roy Hibbert (East) 50/1

Marc Gasol (West) 50/1