By Don MacLean
FOX Sports West and PRIME TICKET
MACLEAN ARCHIVE
The Heatles? Really? I thought we had seen it all. This summer's "decision" by Lebron James, the celebration after his signing, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade and the relentless media coverage since the start of training camp was a lot. But now, The Heatles? Comparing this Miami Heat group to a rock band that changed the face of music and meant so much to their generation and generations to follow seems a bit much. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but I hate the nickname none the less. (Matt 'Money' Smith also has an opinion on the Heatles nickname, click here to read up on that.)
Anyway, the traveling circus known as the Miami Heat roll into town to take on the Clippers Wednesday night at STAPLES and should have the place lit up like a Christmas tree. Blake Griffin and company have made the place a lot more entertaining this year but with what the Heat bring to the table, the atmosphere should be like nothing we've seen in Clipperland in quite some time. It was quite a spectacle in years past when James would bring his Cavalier teams into STAPLES, but now he, Wade and Bosh come to town with a whole lot of hype surrounding them. The real bad news for the Clippers is that it looks like, after a rocky start, the Heat have figured it out.
Miami began the season, 9-8, and fans were freaking out ready to jump off the bandwagon and already saying it wouldn't work with two superstars, an All-star and a bunch of role players. Miami got smacked their first game of the year in Boston (88-80 loss) and from there looked like just a regular old team up until Thanksgiving. It seemed to me that there was a lot of deferring going on, guys were unsure if it was their turn to score or were they in the right spots etc. That is what normal teams go through. This was supposed to be different. This was a super team: James, Wade and Bosh. Are you kidding me? These guys are 9-8? No way these guys are just a regular team in the middle of the pack in the East.
Well, guess what? They aren't.
Since Thanksgiving, the Heat have won 22 of their last 23 and now have the best record in the East. They are not just beating teams at home either, as they have won 13 straight on the road and have done it on most nights in convincing fashion. So what has changed? It is hard to say exactly and it isn't always one or two things that turn a team around, but for me, two things stand out as part of the reason Miami has turned it around so significantly.
The first thing I think is pretty simple: time. Whenever you essentially put a brand new group together, it takes time to sort things out. Offensive sets, defensive schemes, terminology (etc.) are all brand new and it takes a while to get comfortable, even players at that level. Time, to develop as a team, has been a big factor for them.
The second thing has been their defense. They have really made strides on the defensive end, becoming one of the best defensive teams in the league. Holding their opponents to only 92 points a game is what they have done and you have to figure if that continues they are going to continue to win games because you know with those three guys they have on offense, they are going to score.
The Heat are better than they were at the start of the season, but so are the Clippers. Los Angeles has won seven of the last 10 games after that horrendous 5-21 start. Griffin has led the Clippers scoring 21.8 points, 12.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists and will most likely join James in NBA history as Rookies of the Year at the end of the this season. In fact, take a closer look at the two rookie seasons between James and Griffin:
James (CLE: 2003-04) 20.9 PTS, 5.5 REB, 5.9 AST
*Griffin (LAC: 2010-11) 21.8 PTS, 12.6 REB, 3.3 AST
(*Stats for Griffin through 36 games, James played in 79)
It is going to take a really good effort from the Clippers to knock off the Heat Wednesday night. But it should be entertaining no matter how the game goes.
The Heat are also the biggest story in the NBA this year but is there any way we can stop short of calling a 30-9 team with no title (yet) the "Heatles?"
