Turn the Heat around

Get the title? It's a play on that Gloria Estefan song, "Turn the Beat Around." I know, it's terrible. But that's mostly what we do here at Dank Game: make terrible titles for posts that are marginally less terrible. If I got that song stuck in your head, my bad.

Now, onto the Heat, turning it around.

The Heat had lost five straight coming into last night's game against the injury ridden Rockets (Trevor Ariza and Kyle Lowry both out), and they came out and took care of business at home by embarrassing Houston 99-66. The Heat played some of their best team basketball of the season, with six players in double figures and 27 assists on 41 field goals. Wade only posted 17 points and the Heat still won by 33. Usually this season Wade has to be nearing 30 for the Heat to even be close to getting a win. Even Daequan Cook got involved, scoring 10 points. Maybe Erik Spoelstra just wanted to remind everyone that he's still in the league before he defends his Three-Point Shooting crown during All-Star Weekend.

The first half was all Miami, with the Heat up 56 to 31. With Quentin Richardson picking up two quick fouls trying to guard the bulkier Carl Landry in the post, Dorell Wright came into the game and helped sparked the Heat to its big lead. Wright was aggressive in driving to the hoop and finding the open man. He closed the half with seven assists, but didn't get anymore in the second half. Udonis Haslem was also a big part of the Heat pulling away early, as he drilled 18-foot jump shots over and over again. He was 7 of 8 from the field to start the game.

The Rockets came out in the second half hitting multiple three-pointers which got the lead down into the teens, but the Heat pushed it back into the twenties by the end of the third quarter. From there on out, the Rockets seemed to accept the loss as they just went through the motions.

Typically, the Heat have trouble matching up with other team's height, but with the Rockets missing Yao Ming for the season, they're one of few teams Miami actually has a height advantage against. The Heat used this advantage, as Joel Anthony blocked 5 shots and JO blocked 2. I think this weakness will keep Houston out of the playoffs, as they have 6'9" Luis Scola and the big bodied 6'6" Chuck Hayes taking turns at center. 6-footer Aaron Brooks, who's a high volume scorer, couldn't seem to get to the hoop all night without meeting one of Miami's big men. He struggled to get anything going, finishing the game with only one assist and 3-16 shooting for 10 points. This attempted fast-break more or less summed up the game for Brooks:

I love me some two-handed blocks.

Another thing worth noting is that the Heat had plenty of fast break points against Houston. According to TeamRankings.com, the Heat rank second to last in the league in fast break points, averaging only 9.6 a game. I wish the Heat would get out and run more off of turnovers and defensive stops, as it makes for more exciting basketball as well as easier buckets, like this one from last night:



It was a great rebound game for the Heat, yet it can't be overstated. With the way things have gone this season, I expect them to get blown out or lose at the last second tonight in Atlanta. A win against the Hawks tonight would be huge, as the Heat would go into the All-Star break just a game below .500. Plus, if Chicago loses to Orlando and Charlotte loses to Minnesota, the Heat could find themselves with the sixth seed in the East. Although Chicago losing to Orlando is highly probable, I wouldn't put money on the latter.