The Heat only shot 39.4% from the floor and got out-scored 55-30 in the second half, and you can’t win that way.  D-Wade had a rough game shooting (8 of 22 from the floor), but still scored 24 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 4 assists.  Shaq had 15 points & 10 rebounds, but he couldn’t stop Yao who scored 34 points & grabbed 14 rebounds!  Antoine Walker scored 13 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and dished out 4 assists.  Udonis Haslem only scored 6 points but grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Heat were flat and are now 3-3, and they suddenly are looking like an old, un-motivated team.

Shaquille O’Neal is starting to slow down a little bit, but he’s still a great basketball player.  He has problems staying healthy and sits out quite a few games.  He still is a great rebounder, a defensive force in the paint, and he’s still a scorer.  O’Neal averaged 20.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game last season.  For his career, Shaq has averaged 26.3 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.5 blocks per game over his career.  Shaq only shot 46.9% from the free-throw line and that needs to change.

Alonzo Mourning is the perfect back-up for Shaq.  Mourning averaged 7.8 points & 5.5 rebounds last season.  Mourning also blocked 173 shots last season.  For his career, Mourning has averaged 18.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.9 blocks per game.

Earl Barron looks like he’ll be the #3 center this season.  Barron hasn’t gotten much playing time so far as he has averaged only 1.6 points & 1.3 rebounds per game.

Michael Doleac is still around and he will provide depth deep on the roster.  Doleac has averaged 5.2 points & 3.5 rebounds per game over his career.

Many thought that Antoine Walker wouldn’t be able to fit in with the Miami Heat, but they were wrong.  Walker stopped with the selfish play of earlier in his career and became the perfect fit for the Heat and was a key contributor for the World Champions.  Antoine Walker is a good shooter, but not as good as he thinks he is.  Walker is also a good rebounder and scorer.  For his career, Walker has averaged 19.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

James Posey will be Walker’s back-up.  Posey is a good 3-point shooter and he’s a good defender.  Posey has averaged 9.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game for his career.  He plays alot and helps the team win.

Jason Kapano is the #3 small forward, and he’s the best shooter of the bunch.  Kapano has hit 41.9% of his career 3-pointers which is outstanding.   Kapano has averaged 6.0 points & 1.7 rebounds per game over his career.

The starting five for the Heat wouldn’t let them lose to the Nets as they scored 106 points by themselves.  Dwyane Wade led the way as usual with 34 points, 5 rebounds and 10 assists.  Udonis Haslem had a awesome game with 28 points & 9 rebounds.  Gary Payton scored 16 points and dished out 5 assists.  Antoine Walker also had a real good game with 15 points & 10 rebounds.  Shaq didn’t do a whole lot with 13 points & 6 rebounds.

This was a big win for the Heat who move to 3-2 on the season.

The Heat only shot 39.7% from the floor as a team and were without Shaquille O’Neal, but they gutted out a needed win over the Sonics.  Dwyane Wade had a rough night shooting the ball, but he still scored 31 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, dished out 6 assists, stole the ball twice and blocked 3 shots.  Alonzo Mourning started in Shaq’s place and had a solid game with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.  Antoine Walker (12 points, 6 rebounds) and Udonis Haslem (11 points, 8 rebounds) each did their part in helping the Heat win.

The Heat is looking a little slow and tired on the court.  They need to step it up a little bit.

Udonis Haslem is a self-made player that brings his hard hat to work everyday.  Haslem does the dirty work under the glass so that the other players on the Heat are free to do other things.  Haslem has averaged 9.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game over his career.  He makes the Heat a better team when he’s on the floor, because he doesn’t need the ball to be a effective player and he always hustles.

Wayne Simien was brought in last year as the Heat’s first round pick and they may have found something here.  Simien has a skill set similar to Haslem, except Simien has more offensive skills.  Wayne has had a hard time getting on the court, averaging on 9.6 minutes in 43 games but that was to be expected on this veteran basketball team.  Simien averaged 3.4 points & 2.1 rebounds as a rookie.

Antoine Walker will get alot of playing time here when James Posey is in the game and/or Udonis needs a breather.

Shaq didn’t play because of a knee contusion.  The Sixers built up a 57-41 lead at halftime that was too big for the Heat to come back from.  The Heat had a hard time stopping Allen Iverson who rolled up 31 points on them.  Antoine Walker led the scoring for the Heat with 23 points.  D-Wade scored 20 points and dished out 11 assists.  Udonis Haslem stepped up his game with Shaq out.  Haslem scored 17 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out 4 assists.  Young Dorell Wright had a good game with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.  Gary Payton added 11 points.

The Heat is starting to look their age on the court.

The Heat held the Nets to 39% shooting from the field and spread the ball around on offense.  Shaq scored 21 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and blocked 2 shots.  D-Wade scored 17 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and dished out 5 assists.  Gary Payton had a decent game scoring 14 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and dished out 5 assists.  Antoine Walker (11 points), Udonis Haslem (8 points, 9 rebounds) and James Posey (10 points) all contributed to the Heat victory.

It was important that the Heat won this game after their pitiful performance on opening night against the Bulls.

Dwyane Wade is probably the best off-guard in the NBA.  He won the MVP of the NBA finals in his third year in the NBA.  What makes Wade so tough is that he’s so unselfish for a player that is so unstoppable himself.  Last season, Wade averaged 27.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game.  Wade is like having a second point guard at times.  The one thing about Wade is that he takes a beating, because he’s fearless driving into the lane.  Wade has missed 33 games in his 3 year NBA career.  The only skill Wade really doesn’t have is shooting 3-pointers, even though he did well last post-season.  Wade takes good shots and has hit 48.2% of his shots from the field in his three-year career, which is outstanding!  For his career, Wade has averaged 22.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  Wade’s stats have improved every year in his career to date, so who knows how much better he will be this year than he was last year…..and that should scare the heck out of the rest of the NBA.

Wade doesn’t rest much, but when he does look for the time to be split between Dorell Wright, Jason Kapano and Robert Hite.

It looked like the Heat used up all of their energy during the ring ceremony and forgot they had a game to play.  Dwyane Wade looked like the only player ready to play, as he had 25 points and was the only Heat player to score double digits.  Shaquille O’Neal looked like he would rather be leading another porn bust, as he only had 7 points and 5 rebounds.  Antoine Walker didn’t play too well either, scoring 9 points and grabbing 6 rebounds.

The Heat only shot 38.5% from the field and 59.1% from the free-throw line…..which is pathetic.  The Bulls pushed the Heat around on the boards, 49-29.  The Heat was obviously just going through the motions and that won’t be good enough to defend their title!