Miami's
foe Thursday night might have been Dallas, but that was in name only.
These Mavericks don't bear a great resemblance to the outfit that beat
the Heat in the last spring's Finals.
The final score at
AmericanAirlines Arena had the Heat winning 106-85. There were no
miracle comebacks this time by the Mavericks, who were outscored 16-2 to
close the night.
Nobody seemed too surprised afterward in the
Heat locker room. For starters, while nobody wanted to say it, it's
evident the Mavericks (29-23) have slipped plenty since the last time
they were in Miami, for the series-clinching Game 6. But also, the Heat
are starting to expect good things happening at home, where they've won
15 straight and are 21-2 overall.
"Not really," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said when asked if the lopsided score was surprising. "We've been playing very well here."
As
for the road, it's been a different story. So is it any wonder that
after Thursday's game, the Heat were doing as much talking about playing
at 17-34 Toronto on Friday as they were about having just beaten the
defending champions by 21?
The Heat are 15-11 on the road, which
is the fourth-best mark in the league. But they've won just two of
their past eight, with the past two games embarrassing losses at
Oklahoma City and Indiana.
If the Heat (36-13), who are 3½ games behind Chicago in the East, want to claim the top seed, they had better make a move now.
"We
need to go on a streak," said Wade, who had 16 points. "We need to play
well. When I say go on a streak, (I mean) just playing good basketball
and see what the results do."
One thing that would help is if
Heat forward LeBron James can get back to playing at the MVP level he
had been showing much of the season. If the Gallup Poll were to spring
into action, James might now be trailing Thunder forward Kevin Durant.
In
none of his previous five games had James shot 50 percent, shooting 35
of 86 (40.7 percent) overall. With Miami placing six players in double
figures Thursday, James wasn't needed to put up big numbers. But there
were no complaints with his shooting 8 of 16 for 19 points, tying
forward Chris Bosh for team honors, while grabbing nine rebounds and
handing out five assists.
"I missed a lot of shots that I know
I'm capable of making," James said of his slump. "I felt like I was in a
groove (Thursday)."
How much James has been hurting during
recent games is a matter of debate. He banged his head and his elbow
March 20 against Phoenix and then dislocated a finger he popped back in
place in the first half Monday at Indiana.
"It's that point in
the season," James said of his injuries. "Everybody (aches). I don't
know if there is one person that is 100 percent at this point of the
season. Any team. If I'm in uniform, I put a lot of pressure on myself
to be productive. I've got ailments and things like that, but when I put
on a uniform and put that jersey on my back, then I need to go out
there and help our team win."
James, the 2009 and 2010 MVP, did
just that. If there was any duel between the guys who have won the
award, it was gone by the second half. Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, the
2007 winner, shot 8 of 10 for 16 points in the first half before going 1
of 9 after intermission and finishing with 25 points.
"They really picked up the pressure," Nowitzki said. "They got into us. We didn't really have any good looks anymore."
Miami
coach Erik Spoelstra spent the first 30 seconds of his postgame news
conference talking about beating Dallas. Then he immediately launched
into what could be his pregame pep talk in Toronto.
"We go right
back on the road," said Spoelstra, whose Heat play Sunday at Boston to
conclude a stretch of five of six on the road. "No chance to feel
comfortable. We can come up with any excuse that we want. I'll throw
them out there right now, OK?
"Back-to-back (games). We'll
arrive in Toronto probably around 4 a.m. We'll probably get to sleep
around 5:30 or 6. Early game (starting at 7 p.m.). Do you want any other
excuses? We haven't played well on the road the last two games. This is
great opportunity for us… It's time for a response on the road."
Yes,
that's a lot of passion for a game against the lowly Raptors. But
Spoelstra knows the Heat's recent road failings have put his team at bit
of a crossroads.
"We're going to play well on the road," Bosh declared. "We know we have some more work to do. We're going to pick it up."
If the Heat don't, they always can make some excuses. Spoelstra has provided plenty of suggestions.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or on Twitter: @christomasson
