The Heat played great defense tonight holding the Magic to 30.4% shooting from the floor. They also outrebounded them 51-40 tonight and that came as a surprise to me. Dwyane Wade proved once again that the Heat is his team by leading the way with 26 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots. LeBron James pitched in with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists in 30 minutes on the court. Chris Bosh (11 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot) and Udonis Haslem (11 points and 11 rebounds in 23 minutes) did the dirty work around the basket tonight. The Heat sent a message to the Magic by pounding them! The Heat are now 2-1 on the year.

The Heat rushed out to a 80-54 lead after three quarters before calling off the dogs. D-Wade bounced back in a big way for the Heat tonight with 30 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots. Reserve forward James Jones also had a big game tonight finishing up with 20 points on 6 of 9 shooting from long range in 30 minutes on the court. LeBron James was so-so in this game finishing with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot but he also turned the ball over a stunning 9 times! Chris Bosh, like Wade, was much better in his second game of the year as he finished up with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot. The Heat are now 1-1 on the year.

The Heat flat out sucked in Boston tonight. LeBron James was the only one of the Big Three who played worth a damn tonight for the Heat. James played 43 minutes in this game and he finished up with 31 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots. But all was not good as he turned the ball over a stunning 8 times. D-Wade looked rusty after missing almost the whole pre-season. He played 37 minutes tonight but he was only 4 of 16 from the floor with 6 turnovers. Wade finished up with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Chris Bosh was downright pathetic tonight for the Heat. He played 38 minutes but he only finished up with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot. Bosh was only 3 of 11 shooting from the floor. Udonis Haslem brought some energy off the bench for the Heat in his 31 minutes on the floor as he finished up with 8 points and 11 rebounds. The Heat only shot 36.5% from the floor and they won’t win like that much this year. They are now 0-1 on the year.

The over/under for Heat wins is 64.5.  With LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh leading the way the Heat are a lock to win more games than that right?  Wrong!  Injuries are something that always seem to come up during the long NBA season plus the Heat won’t have an answer for a team with a legit big man like Dwight Howard for instance.  I would take the under on wins for the Miami Heat in 2010-11.  But I would consider making a bet on them to win the NBA Championship as they are currently 5-3 to do it.

The Miami Heat were 47-35 last season and if that happens again, Erik Spoelstra will be looking for a new job.  The expectations are that the Miami Heat will win the NBA Championship and anything less will be judged a failure!  This puts a lot of pressure on the coach especially when you consider that Pat Riley kicked Stan Van Gundy to the curb and led the Heat to the NBA Championship the last time the Heat was loaded.  Spoelstra is 90-74 (54.9%) in the regular season in his first two years running the Heat and he is also 4-8 (33.3%) in the post season.  It’s win the title or bust for the Miami Heat and Erik Spoelstra.

The Heat have signed 35-year old SG/SF Jerry Stackhouse. Stackhouse played in 42 games (0 starts) for the Bucks last season and he averaged 20.4 minutes, 8.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He has now played in 896 games (563 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 32.8 minutes, 18.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Stackhouse’s skills don’t match up well with the ones the Heat lost due to Mike Miller’s injury. But, I still like this signing for them as Stackhouse showed last season that he still has a little bit left in his gas tank.

The Miami Heat will be without SG/SF Mike Miller for the next several weeks due to a serious right thumb injury. He was injured in practice yesterday. This is a huge blow to the Heat as Miller was going to be the sixth man and the long range assassin as he has a great outside shooter. Eddie House or James Jones will likely serve in that role until Miller comes back and neither of them are anywhere near his league as a player.

UPDATE: (10/22/2010) – Miller will be out until at least January. This is a big blow to the Heat.

The Miami Heat have a lot of veterans at center so they will probably play matchups. 28-year old Joel Anthony will likely be the starting center on opening night because of his defense and rebounding. Anthony played in 80 games (16 starts) for the Heat last season and he averaged 16.5 minutes, 2.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 0.2 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. He has now played in 169 games (45 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he has averaged 17.0 minutes, 2.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 0.2 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.

35-year old Zydrunas Ilgauskas followed LeBron James to South Beach from Cleveland. Ilgauskas played in 64 games (6 starts) for the Cavaliers last season and he averaged 20.9 minutes, 7.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Z has now played in 771 games (673 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 28.3 minutes, 13.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game. Ilgauskas is the Heat’s best offensive option at center unless they use Chris Bosh there.

37-year old Juwan Howard really played well for the Blazers last season so he might have a little bit left in the gas tank. Howard played in 73 games (27 starts) for the Trailblazers last season and he averaged 22.4 minutes, 6.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. He has now played in 1,116 games (898 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 32.1 minutes, 14.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He can also handle power forward if the Heat need him there.

32-year old Jamaal Magloire is still around for the Heat. He played in 36 games (0 starts) for the Heat last season and he averaged 2.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game. Magloire has now played in 628 games (313 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 22.4 minutes, 7.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE HEAT CENTERS IN 2010-11: C-

26-year old power forward Chris Bosh will be the muscle man for the Heat this year. He played in 70 games (all starts) for the Raptors last season and he averaged 36.1 minutes, 24.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Bosh has now played in 509 games (497 starts) in his seven years in the NBA and he has averaged 37.0 minutes, 20.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. It will be interesting to see how Bosh adjusts to being the third wheel of the offense instead of the go-to man. The Heat will also likely slide him to center once in a while.

30-year old Udonis Haslem is a great back up to have coming off the bench. Haslem played in 78 games (0 starts) for the Heat last season and he averaged 27.9 minutes, 9.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He has now played in 517 games (386 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 30.9 minutes, 10.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Haslem might not get as much P.T. as he did last season but he’s still a very important part of this team.

22-year old rookie Jarvis Varnado is a great rebounder and defender which could get him some minutes as a rookie. Varnado played in 36 games for Mississippi State last season and he averaged 13.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 4.7 blocked shots per game. He played in 141 games in his college career and he averaged 10.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 4.0 blocked shots per game.

22-year old rookie Dexter Pittman will likely have essentially a redshirt season this year for the Heat. Pittman played in 34 games for the Texas Longhorns last season and he averaged 10.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game. He played in 134 games in his college career and he averaged 6.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 0.9 blocked shots per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE HEAT POWER FORWARDS IN 2010-11: A+

25-year old small forward LeBron James is the best player in the NBA who has never won a thing. Sure, he won back to back MVP Awards but he’s certainly not the guy you want taking the last shot of a game. Lucky for him, D-Wade is still in South Beach so he won’t have to make big shots. James played in 76 games (all starts) for the Cavaliers last season and he averaged 39.0 minutes, 29.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. James has now played in 548 games (547 starts) in his 7 years in the NBA and he has averaged 40.3 minutes, 27.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.9 blocked shots per game. James’ only weakness is his long range shooting as he has only hit 32.9% from three point range. I don’t think James will score as much as he did in Cleveland because he won’t have to. Look for his rebounding and assists to go up though.

30-year old James Jones is a good long range shooter hitting 39.5% from three point range but that’s his only skill that’s better than LeBron James. Jones played in 36 games (6 starts) for the Heat last season and he averaged 14.0 minutes, 4.1 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Jones has now played in 366 games (65 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 18.9 minutes, 6.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. I think Jones will pretty much be the #3 small forward on the Heat this season due to Mike Miller who will also be playing some shooting guard.

22-year old rookie Da’Sean Butler will start the year watching a lot of games as he tore his ACL during the NCAA tournament last year. Butler played in 38 games for West Virginia last season and he averaged 17.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He played in 146 games in his college career and he averaged 14.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE HEAT SMALL FORWARDS IN 2010-11: A+