6 Thoughts
1) Annnnnd, we have a series! There is nothing people love more than overreacting to one playoff game - I mean, the Hawks are nice, but they aren't exactly the '86 Celtics. It is within the realm of possibility to beat them if you make shots. Last game Miami didn't; tonight, they did, a scorching 15-26 on threes, 6-10 from Wade, 6-9 for 20 points from the suddenly ambulatory Daequan Cook. They blew out Atlanta, in Atlanta - we have a series.
2) Udonis Haslem - just like the last playoff game Miami won, in 2006, in Dallas, championship-clinching Game 6, he made humongous plays down the stretch. Atlanta's one and only run of the second half saw a Ron "Flip Mode" Murray 3 point play with Wade's fifth foul cut Miami's lead to 5 with just under 5 minutes to play. Coach Spo elected to take Wade out, and Haslem hit consecutive 15 foot jumpers two possessions in a row to bridge the lacuna until DWade returned. Look, it is easy to hate on Udonis - there are a lot of things he can't do. Those people don't understand the things he does do: defend, set screens, and rebound. Plus, as a bonus, the kid has nuts the size of Idaho, and he makes huge shots at the end of big games. There weren't two bigger plays than his two shots tonight.
3) Ahhh, the rookies. First, the bad: Mario Chalmers was frantic out there, got in foul trouble, and spent his time on the defensive end chasing the ball around the court with little regard for his assignments. Offensively he was fair - had 7 assists, and only 2 turnovers. He mostly sat down the stretch in favor of Wade at the point with Cook at the 2, an alignment the Heat used often early in the season at the end of games, before Cook began to be bothered by a bad shoulder. Beasley: He was competitive again - had 12 points and 7 tough-in-traffic rebounds in 22 minutes. He is really starting to rebound the ball - nice to see. Also had 3 assists, and you can see him starting to understand how the ball is supposed to move in an NBA game. Neither Josh Smith or Al Horford could stay in front of him off the dribble. Couldn't get the jumper to drop until he banged a big three in the fourth quarter. Struggled defensively - got lost on a Josh Smith alley-oop where he didn't even get screened, just turned his head and wandered up the lane, while my head, as well as Spoelstra's, nearly exploded off of our respective necks. Played a couple of pick and rolls really poorly. But he competed at a high level and looked like he belonged. Chalmers - he's never going to be a star, so while this is good for him, it is of marginal importance to the franchise. But, watching Mike Beasley start to grow up, and be out there in a hostile environment, taking Al Horford to the rim and finishing late in the third quarter of a playoff game? That's of paramount importance to the franchise. Also warrants mentioning that Mike has cornrowed the hair - I think we were all expecting the worst, but, honestly, it didn't look half bad. I mean, come on, he's a pasty black dude with red hair, what's he going to do anyways?
4) Just when you think, Oh Wade is out of gas a little, maybe the Hawks have his number a little, he makes 6-10 threes, scores Miami's last 13 points of the second quarter as the Heat stretched out to a 13 point halftime lead, and finished with 33 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 blocks for good measure. Hit a fallaway 26 foot three with the shot clock going off with 2 and a half minutes to go which effectively ended the game. I don't know how many times we have written the line this year: he's ridiculous.
5) And we had to save the best, perhaps, for this spot: Jermaine O'Neal played his best game in a Heat uniform. Much of the offense was run through him all night - he was aggressive and efficient with his shot, and effective passing out of traffic. Wade didn't have to initiate everything - Jermaino took his turns. Assertive is the word, I think. 6-9, and shot 8 free throws, 19 points. Equally as good was his defensive presence: blocked 4 shots, had 6 rebounds, and drew 2 charges. Wade's 33 and Cook's 20 were splashier - but Jermaino was the guts of the win tonight.
6) Atlanta fans - not the most sophisticated, okay, true. I mean, come on, they live in Atlanta. Their average attendance for a regular season game is somewhere between 1 and 3,500. They have, to their credit, sold out the first two playoff games. I estimate the breakdown to be: 30 percent - actual Hawks fans; 20 percent - Dwyane Wade fans; 50 percent - people who just want an excuse to wear their electric purple suits somewhere because it is too damn long in between R. Kelly concerts. They started leaving awfully early tonight...You remind me of my jeep, Atlanta fans...Also worth mentioning, game was delayed for several minutes in the first quarter because a falcon - according to the TNT announcers, although it seems likely it was supposed to be a hawk - had apparently been released in the building before the game. No, I mean on purpose. Reasoning unclear - fire up the fans? Anyways, it perched on the backboard and referee Danny Crawford had to stop the game, and stood waving his hand at the bird, trying to convince it to leave the backboard using the internationally-understood "hand-shoo" motion, which would have been completely effective, except he was using it on a bird. He was holding the basketball - why he didn't just toss the ball at the bird was unclear, and typical of Danny Crawford, moronic. In any case, the bird's handler was summoned, and he was able to corral the bird back into its cage - it might have been a good idea to do that before the game started. Let's hope Denver, featuring backup center Chris "The Birdman" Anderson, doesn't get any ideas...
Game 3 - Saturday
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