them boys having fun!
*}{}{*}{}{*Official 2012-2013 Miami Heat Thread*}{}{*}{}{*
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Magic and Heat
The Miami Heat needed a clutch shot by LeBron James to beat the Orlando Magic earlier this month to keep their staggering winning streak going.
Injuries to the Magic's top two scorers will likely keep that from happening this time.
James and the Heat will try to avoid some recent early struggles in order to make things easier on themselves Monday night when they face the Magic seeking a 27th straight win.
Miami (55-14) continues to close in on the Los Angeles Lakers' record of 33 wins in a row set in 1971-72, but the streak was nearly snapped by Orlando on March 6.
James came through with a go-ahead layup with 3.2 seconds left before Arron Afflalo missed a 40-footer at the buzzer, as the Heat held on to win 97-96 at home.
They also needed some late help from James in their last visit to Orlando, as the superstar put Miami ahead for good by making two free throws in the final seconds of a 112-110 overtime win Dec. 31.
James has totaled 62 points in those two meetings, but those heroics may not be needed since the Magic are expected to be without Afflalo and Nikola Vucevic, who average 15.5 and 12.4 points, respectively.
Afflalo was lost for the season to a strained right hamstring in Friday's 97-89 loss to Oklahoma City, while Vucevic has missed two games with a concussion.
Orlando has dropped six games in a row, yielding an average of 106.0 points.
Miami may be looking to capitalize on the short-handed Magic after needing to overcome double-digit deficits in each of the past four games.
The latest came Sunday, when the Heat were down 11 early before overpowering league-worst Charlotte 109-77. James led the way with 32 points on 11-of-14 shooting, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
"We've been having slow starts," James said. "But it's not how we start. It's how we finish."
The Heat were without All-Star guard Dwyane Wade on Sunday because of right knee soreness that the team deems as minor, and he'll also miss this game.
The Heat's winning streak will be tested in this four-game road trip. After facing Orlando (18-52), they'll visit Chicago and New Orleans before ending the swing Sunday at Western Conference-leading San Antonio.
Right now, Magic coach Jacque Vaughn is just happy that his team is showing some fight since it's officially eliminated from playoff contention.
"It's just an unbelievable overall effort from every guy," Vaughn said. "As a coach you want to be proud of your team and what they're doing. (Friday's) effort typifies who we want to be."
Vaughn may be specifically referring to Maurice Harkless, who had a season-high 25 points and nine rebounds while making 11 of 18 from the floor versus the Thunder.
The forward, the 15th overall selection out of St. John's in last year's draft, had 12 points, three boards, three steals and two blocks against the Heat on March 6.
The Miami Heat needed a clutch shot by LeBron James to beat the Orlando Magic earlier this month to keep their staggering winning streak going.
Injuries to the Magic's top two scorers will likely keep that from happening this time.
James and the Heat will try to avoid some recent early struggles in order to make things easier on themselves Monday night when they face the Magic seeking a 27th straight win.
Miami (55-14) continues to close in on the Los Angeles Lakers' record of 33 wins in a row set in 1971-72, but the streak was nearly snapped by Orlando on March 6.
James came through with a go-ahead layup with 3.2 seconds left before Arron Afflalo missed a 40-footer at the buzzer, as the Heat held on to win 97-96 at home.
They also needed some late help from James in their last visit to Orlando, as the superstar put Miami ahead for good by making two free throws in the final seconds of a 112-110 overtime win Dec. 31.
James has totaled 62 points in those two meetings, but those heroics may not be needed since the Magic are expected to be without Afflalo and Nikola Vucevic, who average 15.5 and 12.4 points, respectively.
Afflalo was lost for the season to a strained right hamstring in Friday's 97-89 loss to Oklahoma City, while Vucevic has missed two games with a concussion.
Orlando has dropped six games in a row, yielding an average of 106.0 points.
Miami may be looking to capitalize on the short-handed Magic after needing to overcome double-digit deficits in each of the past four games.
The latest came Sunday, when the Heat were down 11 early before overpowering league-worst Charlotte 109-77. James led the way with 32 points on 11-of-14 shooting, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
"We've been having slow starts," James said. "But it's not how we start. It's how we finish."
The Heat were without All-Star guard Dwyane Wade on Sunday because of right knee soreness that the team deems as minor, and he'll also miss this game.
The Heat's winning streak will be tested in this four-game road trip. After facing Orlando (18-52), they'll visit Chicago and New Orleans before ending the swing Sunday at Western Conference-leading San Antonio.
Right now, Magic coach Jacque Vaughn is just happy that his team is showing some fight since it's officially eliminated from playoff contention.
"It's just an unbelievable overall effort from every guy," Vaughn said. "As a coach you want to be proud of your team and what they're doing. (Friday's) effort typifies who we want to be."
Vaughn may be specifically referring to Maurice Harkless, who had a season-high 25 points and nine rebounds while making 11 of 18 from the floor versus the Thunder.
The forward, the 15th overall selection out of St. John's in last year's draft, had 12 points, three boards, three steals and two blocks against the Heat on March 6.
whos the broad in the pics
Put Lebron back in 
spo got some funky lineups going tonite smh
BIRD MAN BITCHES 
I appreciate Birdman's game man damn 
Bosh is good but when he takes games off that guy might as well be in the mezzanine smoking weed
dude wasnt even goin hard in the 1st half and he still flirting!
Man that's crazy
If this guy doesn't get M.V.P. then the fix is in
They just put Juwan in.
27
27
Say bruh,
Why does this thread have 30 something pages and the Knicks thread is about to crack a hundred?
Watch these 2 clown niggas go missing after Wednesday when the Bulls get smacked
I will be right here.
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WoW!!!!
First the RedHot Bobcats..now this.
Miami beat the shit out of the Orlando Magic.................................
First the RedHot Bobcats..now this.
Miami beat the shit out of the Orlando Magic.................................
Yeah throw in the Bulls losing to the Heat during the streak..
You say the dumbest shit
Noah was their best player that game and he's battling a foot injury right now. Don't look good for the Baby Bulls.
Heat-Bulls Preview
The Los Angeles Lakers made it look easy when they racked up win after win after win for an NBA-record 33 straight games.
The Miami Heat, not so much.
Those Lakers of 1971-72 won 17 games during that streak by 15 points or more. The Heat take more of a grind-it-out approach, often getting into trouble before flipping a switch and pulling away.
``We're going to get everybody's best shot because of the streak,'' Heat guard Mario Chalmers said.
That's why instead of savoring the 27 in a row they've already won, the Heat are bracing for perhaps one of the biggest road tests so far in their pursuit of those Lakers. Miami (56-14) plays at Chicago on Wednesday night, a renewal of a rivalry that, on paper, certainly has lost some of the sparkle it had a year or two ago.
The Bulls (38-31) still don't have injured point guard Derrick Rose back in the lineup and have lost 13 of their last 22 games. Still, the Heat expect a playoff-type, rough-and-tumble meeting.
``Our historic run is about winning championships,'' Heat star LeBron James said. ``That's what we want to be known for. It's part of a process. Whatever comes in between that, we can be excited about it. We didn't have a goal in mind to say, `Let's go on a long consecutive win streak,' but our goal is to win every game when we are on the floor.''
In recent days, that hasn't been easy. Boston had the Heat down by 17 early and 13 in the fourth quarter. Cleveland put Miami in a 27-point hole, and against Detroit and Charlotte, the Heat trailed by 11 before pulling away. On Monday night, the Orlando Magic and Heat were tied late in the third quarter before James keyed a 20-2 run that changed everything.
``We like knowing we have that switch,'' guard Dwyane Wade said. ``We just don't want to use it too much.''
Chicago has already beaten the Heat once this season, on Miami's home floor. On Friday, the Heat head to New Orleans, where the Hornets just snapped Denver's 15-game winning streak. And Sunday's game at San Antonio is against not only the Western Conference leader and potential NBA Finals opponent, but also likely will have huge implications for the No. 1 overall playoff seed.
Whether the opponent is a playoff team like Chicago or a lottery-bound club, James said the approach has been steady.
``It has been tough all year,'' he said. ``It hasn't been easy for us at all. Every team has given us their best. We know that Chicago is going to be a tough game for us, and playing in that building. We want to come out with our game plan ... and give ourselves a chance to win.''
The Bulls are percentage points ahead of the Atlanta Hawks for fifth place in the East and 2 1/2 games behind Brooklyn for fourth, which carries home-court advantage for the first round. As a result, they are thinking more about helping themselves than being the team that ends Miami's historic run.
"It would be great to be the team that beats them, but at the same time we can't think about that," center Nazr Mohammed told the team's official website. "We're a team that's trying to grind out some wins and this is one that we need. ... We just want to go out and get this victory."
Mohammed, who had four points and 10 rebounds in Sunday's 104-97 win at Minnesota, could be in line for his third straight start if Joakim Noah is unable to go again due to a foot injury.
Since Miami landed James and Chris Bosh to play alongside Wade in the summer of 2010, no team has confounded the Heat more than the Bulls, and it's not even close. The Heat and Bulls have played 14 times since then, each team winning seven, and Miami averaged only 90.1 points in those games. That's six points less than they averaged against anyone else in that span, and 11 points shy of what they typically score against the rest of the league.
``You can't necessarily gauge them against other teams,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Monday night, after Miami topped Orlando 108-94. ``When they play against us, it's highly competitive. We've played them in the playoffs. All of our games have been physical and hotly contested. You have to deal with the physical aspect but also the mental aspect of staying with it, grinding possessions.''
Moments after the Heat extended their winning streak to 27, Spoelstra urged his team to be ``grateful for this opportunity and stay in this moment.''
That's his way of saying, yes, enjoy the moment but don't lose sight of the only goal that matters - another NBA title. That's what the players talked about in the locker room after the Orlando game, as they wolfed down chicken, pasta and vegetables and headed to the bus.
``To be honest with you, we don't really think about the streak,'' Heat forward Udonis Haslem said. ``People might find this hard to believe, but if you start thinking about a streak, that's when you slip up. If you start thinking about the Lakers' record, that's when you're going to slip up.''
Besides, streaks don't come with championship rings.
``Not at all,'' Haslem said...
The Los Angeles Lakers made it look easy when they racked up win after win after win for an NBA-record 33 straight games.
The Miami Heat, not so much.
Those Lakers of 1971-72 won 17 games during that streak by 15 points or more. The Heat take more of a grind-it-out approach, often getting into trouble before flipping a switch and pulling away.
``We're going to get everybody's best shot because of the streak,'' Heat guard Mario Chalmers said.
That's why instead of savoring the 27 in a row they've already won, the Heat are bracing for perhaps one of the biggest road tests so far in their pursuit of those Lakers. Miami (56-14) plays at Chicago on Wednesday night, a renewal of a rivalry that, on paper, certainly has lost some of the sparkle it had a year or two ago.
The Bulls (38-31) still don't have injured point guard Derrick Rose back in the lineup and have lost 13 of their last 22 games. Still, the Heat expect a playoff-type, rough-and-tumble meeting.
``Our historic run is about winning championships,'' Heat star LeBron James said. ``That's what we want to be known for. It's part of a process. Whatever comes in between that, we can be excited about it. We didn't have a goal in mind to say, `Let's go on a long consecutive win streak,' but our goal is to win every game when we are on the floor.''
In recent days, that hasn't been easy. Boston had the Heat down by 17 early and 13 in the fourth quarter. Cleveland put Miami in a 27-point hole, and against Detroit and Charlotte, the Heat trailed by 11 before pulling away. On Monday night, the Orlando Magic and Heat were tied late in the third quarter before James keyed a 20-2 run that changed everything.
``We like knowing we have that switch,'' guard Dwyane Wade said. ``We just don't want to use it too much.''
Chicago has already beaten the Heat once this season, on Miami's home floor. On Friday, the Heat head to New Orleans, where the Hornets just snapped Denver's 15-game winning streak. And Sunday's game at San Antonio is against not only the Western Conference leader and potential NBA Finals opponent, but also likely will have huge implications for the No. 1 overall playoff seed.
Whether the opponent is a playoff team like Chicago or a lottery-bound club, James said the approach has been steady.
``It has been tough all year,'' he said. ``It hasn't been easy for us at all. Every team has given us their best. We know that Chicago is going to be a tough game for us, and playing in that building. We want to come out with our game plan ... and give ourselves a chance to win.''
The Bulls are percentage points ahead of the Atlanta Hawks for fifth place in the East and 2 1/2 games behind Brooklyn for fourth, which carries home-court advantage for the first round. As a result, they are thinking more about helping themselves than being the team that ends Miami's historic run.
"It would be great to be the team that beats them, but at the same time we can't think about that," center Nazr Mohammed told the team's official website. "We're a team that's trying to grind out some wins and this is one that we need. ... We just want to go out and get this victory."
Mohammed, who had four points and 10 rebounds in Sunday's 104-97 win at Minnesota, could be in line for his third straight start if Joakim Noah is unable to go again due to a foot injury.
Since Miami landed James and Chris Bosh to play alongside Wade in the summer of 2010, no team has confounded the Heat more than the Bulls, and it's not even close. The Heat and Bulls have played 14 times since then, each team winning seven, and Miami averaged only 90.1 points in those games. That's six points less than they averaged against anyone else in that span, and 11 points shy of what they typically score against the rest of the league.
``You can't necessarily gauge them against other teams,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Monday night, after Miami topped Orlando 108-94. ``When they play against us, it's highly competitive. We've played them in the playoffs. All of our games have been physical and hotly contested. You have to deal with the physical aspect but also the mental aspect of staying with it, grinding possessions.''
Moments after the Heat extended their winning streak to 27, Spoelstra urged his team to be ``grateful for this opportunity and stay in this moment.''
That's his way of saying, yes, enjoy the moment but don't lose sight of the only goal that matters - another NBA title. That's what the players talked about in the locker room after the Orlando game, as they wolfed down chicken, pasta and vegetables and headed to the bus.
``To be honest with you, we don't really think about the streak,'' Heat forward Udonis Haslem said. ``People might find this hard to believe, but if you start thinking about a streak, that's when you slip up. If you start thinking about the Lakers' record, that's when you're going to slip up.''
Besides, streaks don't come with championship rings.
``Not at all,'' Haslem said...
I'm getting off early for this one
If the Heat lose tonight will people still say its a "weak league"?
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