The Miami Heat were on top of their game in March, finishing the month 12-3 and putting themselves only 1/2 game out of the 5th spot in the Eastern Conference standings.  Their leader Dwyane Wade had a great month of March.  He had six games where he scored 30 points or more and also had five games where he had 10 assists or more.  For the month, he ended up averaging 26.9 points, 7.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 2.3 steals, and 1.0 blocks.  Those are all above his season averages.  Wade got some great help from his supporting cast as well.  Guys like Jermaine O’Neal, Udonis Haslem, and Carlos Arroyo all had some nice contributions over the past month.  The Heat have obviously been hot, and after a 98-81 blowout win Wednesday over the Detroit Pistons, they have now won six in a row heading into the final stretch of the season.  They only have seven games left, and all seven of those games are against some pretty weak opponents.  All seven of their final opponents have records well below .500.  The toughest team left on their schedule is the 28-47 Indiana Pacers.  The only negative for the Heat right now is that Jermaine O’Neal is battling a knee injury, which forced him out of Wednesday night’s win.  Still, the Heat should be pretty confident as the season winds down and I expect them to beat out the Milwaukee Bucks for the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.  The Bucks have a much more difficult schedule down the stretch, and the Heat are red hot.

The Miami Heat’s superstar guard Dwyane Wade has missed three straight games with a calf injury.  Wade injured his calf early in the game against the New Jersey Nets on 2/17 but the injury is not deemed serious.  He had an MRI on the calf and it revealed a minor strain, and no tears or long-term damage.  The problem with a calf strain is that it is similar to an injury like a hamstring strain, meaning that it can linger for quite a while if it doesn’t get enough rest.  The Heat need Wade as he is averaging 26.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.1 blocks this season.  They don’t want to rush it though and make the injury worse, so they are “cautiously optimistic” that Wade could be back as early as this weekend.  Don’t be surprised if Wade is out longer though.

The Heat will be without back-up point guard Mario Chalmers indefinitely due to a torn ligament in his left thumb. He has played in 46 games (22 starts) for the Heat this season and he is averaging 24.7 minutes, 7.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. The Heat are lucky that they held onto Carlos Arroyo who will take over Chalmers’ minutes. Arroyo has played in 38 games (11 starts) this season for the Heat and he is averaging 16.1 minutes, 4.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. The Heat should be o.k. until Chalmers returns to action because Arroyo is a decent ball player.

Starting center Jermaine O’Neal suffered a broken nose against the Bulls but he will continue to play. That is a good thing for the Heat as O’Neal has been outstanding this season. O’Neal has started all three games for the Heat this season and he is averaging 30.0 minutes, 17.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. The Heat need O’Neal to play in as many games as possible this season because he is the best interior offensive and defensive player on the Heat’s roster.

With this season lost already the Heat have decided to shut down Dwyane Wade for the remainder of the year. D-Wade played in 51 games (49 starts) this season for the Heat and he averaged 38.3 minutes, 24.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game. With Wade out for the season look for Ricky Davis and Shawn Marion to carry the offense. The Heat also will likely have a ton of ping pong balls in the NBA Draft Lottery because I don’t see them winning many games the rest of the season.