Wade and James lead Heat to victory in the 4th

It wasn’t the prettiest nor was it flashiest game we’ve seen the Miami Heat play in the playoffs this year, but it was their style of play. The Heat have been following the script of allowing teams to hang around in the first three quarters and then finishing them off with haymaker in the final period. The scary thing that seems to be misunderstood about Miami is how many ways they can beat a team. As ESPN analyst Jon Barry said, “They have so many different recipes.” The superstar triad of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh don’t have to all play great every night to win. That’s the luxury of having an all-star supporting cast. Each player can make contributions where needed instead of doing the “one man show” that they all previously performed before joining forces in South Beach.
I said it before and I’ll say it again. Defense. Defense and more Defense. Despite a dreary 39 percent from the field for the Heat, the Mavericks shot 37 percent. Miami has prided themselves on doing everything possible to fluster and make each shot difficult for their opponents. Dirk Nowitzki may have scored 27 points, but it was a tough 27. Miami can be content with that because they understand how remarkable of a player he is similar to the players of Miami's Big 3. What the Heat can control and did in Game 1 was the performances from the other key Dallas stars. The players surrounding Nowitzki will need to come up big in Game 2 due to Dirk tearing a tendon in the middle finger on his left hand. It may be the German gunner’s non-shooting hand, but it could cause him difficulties in the early going.
Two integral parts of Dallas’ offense is outside shooting and bench production. The Heat won both of these categories. Miami additionally man-handled the Mavs on the offensive glass (16-6) which resulted in more second chance scoring. Tyson Chandler ending a game with only four rebounds isn’t a good look.
Every time Miami is involved in a close game in the final minutes, I feel inclined to play the theme music from the Rocky movie. Rocky similar to the Heat never blew anyone out in the beginning. It’s only in the 12th round or in the 4th quarter in Miami’s case that they show how dominant and deadly they are. Punch after punch and blow after blow is thrown by this squad. A Wade three-point shot here followed by a Chris Bosh block, ending with a James alley-oop dunk leads to knockout. Dallas was outscored 22-10 in the final period. The last thing Dallas needs is for Wade to spark a fuse like he did last night. His late-game heroics were reminiscent of his 2006 NBA Finals performance, which is not a good sign for the Mavs.
Three more wins and James’ will validate his decision to take his talents to South Beach. What better way to shut up all the critics than with the instant gratification of a ring? James is now one step closer to adding a great asset to his resume and his dream is in arms length. The Heat still remain undefeated at home in these playoffs and will look to take a 2-0 lead Thursday evening against the revengeful Mavs.