MIAMI—A strong emphasis has always been placed on defense the past few seasons.
The Miami Heat have often called it their “identity.” Defense first. Offense second.
Yet, this season it’s been different. Very different.
Defense has taken a backseat because the way they have played on offense. The Heat once again put on a scoring show in Sunday’s 107-102 victory against the Toronto Raptors at American Airlines Arena.
“We’re three games into this, so it could quickly go the other way if guys start to feel comfortable and try to do it on their own, and that’s not the makeup of this group,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s not at all a referendum on our personnel. It’s the power of working together that will make us more successful.”
The Heat have now topped the 100-point mark in every game, improving to 3-0. They are the only remaining undefeated team in the Eastern Conference after handing the Raptors their first loss. It was the second straight game they scored at least 60 points in the first half.
Guard Dwyane Wade led the way with 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, the closest he had come of recording a triple-double in nearly four years. Wade even hit a rare three-pointer to put the Heat ahead by 16 with four minutes and 53 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
“I took the shots that were there,” Wade said. “I was able to hit as many shots to start the game as I did all [on Saturday against Philadelphia].”
The performance answered any questions about Wade’s playing status this season. He looked plenty healthy in the second game of a back-to-back. Last year Wade rarely played on consecutive nights because of his knees, missing 28 games.
Before the game, he made it clear he was growing bothered by the constant concerns of his health. He’s stated several times he will approach these stretches on a game-by-game basis. The plan, though, is to play in as many games possible.
“Just keep playing,” Wade said. “Don’t even think about it….We’ve got a lot of games coming up. You knock on wood for your health. As you see around the league and in sports, it’s a lot of major injuries going on. You knock on wood to be able to go out there and just play.”
Center Chris Bosh continued his impressive start to the season. He finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds—his second double-double of the season—in his third game as the primary scoring option. The Heat led by double-figures most of the second half until offense started flowing less smoothly.
The open looks weren’t as frequent and the Heat got careless with the ball, allowing the Raptors to close within 93-84 on a lay-up by James Johnson.
“We got a little stagnant in the third quarter,” Bosh said. “We had a chance to put them away, and we let them back in the game…. Hopefully, we can learn from our mistakes. What’s most important is we got the win, and we got a lot of contributions.”
A three-pointer by DeMar DeRozan, who led the Raptors with a season-high 30 points, made it 98-83 with 5:18 remaining. The Raptors had a chance to pull even closer, but Luol Deng (18 points) blocked DeRozan on the following possession.
The Heat then pushed the lead back to eight on a three-pointer by Shawne Williams.
Shandel Richardson, Sun Sentinel
Image credits: AP