Heat at Jazz
The Miami Heat are finally putting it together but are hearing whispers that is has come at the expense of the dredges of the NBA. They will get their chance Wednesday to show the rest of the league just how far they’ve come when the visit the Utah Jazz.
The Heat got off to a very slow start, losing four of five through the Thanksgiving weekend to drop to 9-8, as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh tried to figure out how to play with each other and best utilize their supporting cast.
Part of the slow start was a Nov. 9 matchup with visiting Utah. The Heat led by 22 points, but the Jazz rallied behind a career-high 46 points from Paul Millsap for a 116-114 victory. That was the second in a stretch of five consecutive games in which the Jazz rallied from double-digit deficits to win.
Wade scored 39 points in the first Jazz game and James picked up his second triple-double against the Jazz with 20 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.
The Heat have started to put it together of late, winning five straight games, although only one – the Joe Johnson-less Hawks – has been against over-.500 teams. The others were against Washington, Detroit, Cleveland and Milwaukee. For the entire season, Miami has beaten only three teams with a winning record.
On Monday, Wade scored 25 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and James and Bosh combined for 33 points in an 88-78 victory at Milwaukee. Miami held Milwaukee to 34.6 percent shooting.
The Heat have outscored the five opponents by 86 points, have shot over 50 percent from the floor while holding the opposition to less than 38 percent.
The 16-6 Jazz will provide the Heat with a big test. Utah lost three of its first five games but has gone 14-3 since. The Jazz are 9-4 at home and had a seven-game winning streak snapped in a 93-81 loss to Dallas Friday.
The Jazz are led by Deron Williams, who had 27 points and eight assists in a 94-85 win over Memphis Monday. C.J. Miles came off the bench to score 20 points and Raja Bell chipped in 14 on 5-for-7 shooting.
Williams earned Western Conference Player of the Month for games played in October and November for the first time in his career, averaging 21.9 points and 9.9 assists, compiling 10 double-doubles and shooting 85.6 percent from the line.
Other factors in the Jazz’s favor is that they are playing their fifth game of an extended six-game homestand, are 8-0 against the Eastern Conference and have held their last 10 opponents to fewer than 100 points
Utah leads the all-time series 29-19, but Miami has won 11 of the last 14. Wade has led Miami in scoring in 12 of the past 14 meetings.