The Miami Heat faced its first game against the NBA's elite Friday night with a date with the Denver Nuggets, who came into South Beach with an untainted 5-0 record. Miami was ready to play, however, and built a 28-point lead en route to a 96-88 victory.
Miami played very well defensively. Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 30 points on 12-of-22 shooting, but the Heat shut down the other key components of the Nugget offense. Kenyon Martin only played 11 minutes and left after suffering a lower left leg contusion in the second quarter. Chauncey Billups and Anthony Carter shot a combined 2-for-12 from the field. The Heat also out-rebounded Denver, 41-34.
Miami played efficiently for extended periods of time. The third quarter was pivotal for the Heat. Dwyane Wade made a jumper to start off the second half, and Mario Chalmers sunk a three-pointer thereafter. Wade later found Jermaine O'Neal to give Miami a 57-38 lead, completing a 24-5 run. The Heat was completely decimating the best team in the Western Conference.
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Chalmers then got going. He drove past Billups and converted an acrobatic reverse layup, made another triple and then found O'Neal to give the Heat a 68-44 lead with 5 minutes and 18 seconds left in the third. Miami went into the final period with a 78-56 advantage. And although Denver made a run in the fourth quarter, Udonis Haslem collected two consecutive offense rebounds with 2:30 left to go. On Miami's ensuing possession, Haslem and Quentin Richardson each grabbed one offensive rebound to ice the game.
Chalmers was great. Not only did he render Billups ineffective, he was considerably efficient on offense. During one offensive sequence in the second quarter, Haslem blocked a Malik Allen layup, which led to a fast-break opportunity. Wade found Chalmers in the corner for a triple, where he calmly drained it. Chalmers shot six-of-nine from the field and four-of-five from downtown, grabbed five rebounds, dished out four assists and committed only two turnovers in 34 minutes of action.
After playing poorly against Washington, O'Neal more than held his own against Nene. The 6-foot-11 center finished with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and seven rebounds. The 14-year NBA veteran also rejected three shots, including a dunk attempt by Anthony.
It is seeming that the Heat's acquisition of Quentin Richardson was a very shrewd move on Heat President Pat Riley's part. The starting small forward had 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field and grabbed nine rebounds. He did not shoot well from the perimeter (one-for-seven), but did showcase some of his offensive versatility with post-ups. The Chicago native also has good chemistry with Wade and O'Neal. Jamario Moon's departure last summer doesn't look so bad now.
Haslem registered his second double-double in three games off the bench. The 6-foot-8 forward out of Florida had 11 points on four-of-nine shooting and grabbed 10 boards. Again, Haslem was on the floor in the fourth quarter, not Beasley. The Heat's 2008 first-round pick only had seven points and attempted one less shot than Haslem did. The two did play together again, though, with Haslem taking on the defensive assignment against Anthony.
Wade seemed almost passive last night. He attempted only two field goals in the first quarter. Anthony, by contrast, had nine shots up by the end of 12 minutes of action. Wade actually missed his first five shots, but finished with a team-high 22 points on 6-of-17 shooting. It was pleasing to see the supporting cast pick up for Wade. The 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette did play more than 40 minutes for the second consecutive game, though. Spoelstra should definitely keep Wade's minutes below 40 in Tuesday's game against Washington, especially since the Cleveland Cavaliers will visit the Heat Thursday.
Spoelstra continued to utilize Dorell Wright, who had his moments. He found Haslem in transition for a nice second-quarter jumper and even defended Billups at times. It remains to be seen what his role with the team will be when Daequan Cook returns against the Wizards after missing the previous four games with a strained right shoulder.
Miami's win over Denver was big. The Heat played one of the two undefeated teams in the League going into Friday's matchups and crushed the Nuggets. Miami is now ranked second in the Eastern Conference, just a half-game behind the Boston Celtics. Not bad when most pundits were debating whether the Heat would even make the playoffs, right? It's important not to get carried away, though. Miami will need to rack up as many wins as it can now before it plays 11 games on the road in January.
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Who is a better team Miami or Cleveland?
I still think Miami is better. Cleveland is a bunch of choke artists.