Them Nikkas Had a Parade!!!.Official Season Thread Of The World Champion Miami Heat

[Primetime21]

Cowboys need to sign LeBron Raymone to play Safety

 

[yaaa_mad]

the hawks suck....this is going to the be round 1 for us

 

[Jax]

FLASH is back!

 

[Luke Cage]

"hawks looking like a d league team"

 

[AkaDemiK]

 

[714562]

I love it when Chalmers and Bosh are in double digits

 

[714562]

The astronaut shimmying in the background. :rayray:

 

[Mr. Brown]

I love how hard he plays, but Norris Cole is terrible at finishing around the rim.

 

[Brooklynzson]

I really don't see us losing until we play the bulls or spurs

 

[Alexander The Great]

I really don't see us losing until we play the bulls or spurs

back to backs are tough, luckily Lebron and Bosh got to sit out the 4th. So they should be good for tomorrow. Bucks are always tough in their building. if they win both of those, I could see it going to 29 going for 30 vs the Spurs in San Antonio. We'll see if Spo uses the depth because there are 3 more back to back this month.

 

[Brief Keef]

Breh's.....yall already know

 

[the artist known az]

19 in a row....why don't they just hand us the trophy now?

 

[Brief Keef]

19 in a row....why don't they just hand us the trophy now?

we gotta make it interesting

19-1 since Andersen's insertion into the rotation

 

[Da_Eggman]

we gotta make it interesting

19-1 since Andersen's insertion into the rotation

thats my tatted up white boy

but its been Wade thats the real reason for the run

Dwyane Wade's quiet ascension

MIAMI -- Every once in a while, Dwyane Wade misses it.

Being “The Man” for the Heat, or whatever that means. Shooting 20-25 times a game. Being the unquestioned go-to scorer.

In candid moments, you’ll hear Wade’s nostalgia gnawing at him. Back in early January, after a win over Dallas in which he took 21 field goal attempts, Wade was asked if he longed for the days that he had the freedom to shoot virtually any time he pleased.

“Yes, every day,” Wade said. “I know what I could do [if given 20-plus shots per game], but it’s alright. In 2010, I decided to give it up, and I wanted to. I do miss it. I gave it up for the good of winning, for this organization.”

The Heat are doing a whole lot of winning now. Eighteen wins in a row, in fact. And even though Wade feels that pang of nostalgia every so often, it’s safe to say he doesn't regret his decision to step aside and let LeBron James and Chris Bosh join the only franchise he’s ever known.

And after Miami’s recent steamroll through the league, you’re seeing why.

Sure enough, Wade’s beginning to receive the spotlight again. In Sunday’s win, Wade scored 23 points on 16 shots and tallied six steals on a night James scored a season-low 13 points. And during Saturday’s victory against the Philadelphia 76ers, it was Wade who closed out the nine-point win as James sat on the sidelines for the final eight minutes. Wade’s satisfied to play a supporting role for James’ MVP campaign, but he’s far from a role player.

“You can't win an Oscar unless everyone does their job on a movie,” Wade said after Sunday’s win. “[James] doesn't have to score 30 every night. We're a total team. We're not going to have one guy iso and take 20 or 30 shots a night.”

Wade used to be that one guy. Remember, Wade won the scoring title in 2008-09, scoring 30.2 points per game while firing up 22 field goal attempts a night. How’d the Heat do that season? They finished one game over .500. But Wade now owns a 2012 championship ring and his team has won a franchise-record 18 games in a row, the longest streak in the NBA this season. All the while, Wade’s usage rate is its lowest since his rookie season.

As brilliant as James has been recently, you can make the argument that Wade’s elite play has as much to do with the Heat’s win streak as anything. By any measure, Wade is back. After a slow start following offseason knee surgery, Wade has reclaimed his spot among the game’s elite. He’s averaging 21.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game on a career-high 52.3 percent shooting.

Take a look at the player efficiency rating (PER) leaderboard and you’ll find Wade’s name slotted fourth with a 24.7 rating, just behind LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul. That’s Wade’s game now, brutal efficiency. He’s shot 55.2 percent from the floor since the beginning of Miami's streak on Feb. 3, which seems preposterous for a guy who stands 6-foot-4. According to NBA.com’s stats tool, only two players have averaged 20 points per game on at least 55 percent shooting since that date: LeBron James and the 6-10 Al Horford.

It wasn’t long ago when Wade received a wave of doubt and criticism from the media after an uneven start to the season, but he insisted then he wasn’t healthy and wouldn’t be until the All-Star break. And now he is. After last Thursday’s practice, Wade reiterated that he feels he’s still an elite player, just in a different context.

“I just got to understand that, when healthy, I’m one of the best in this game,” Wade said. “My role is just different, you know? Do I want people to say great things about me if I was on a bad team, averaging 27 a game, or do I want people to say nothing about me averaging 22 points per game?”

That’s Wade's decision in a nutshell. The implication is clear: he’d rather fight for the No. 1 seed than battle for the scoring title. That’s not a shot at fellow 2-guards Kobe Bryant or James Harden, but Wade has made the most of his current reality even if it has been in LeBron James’ shadow.

To illustrate the James eclipse this season, consider this: Wade is currently riding a ridiculous streak in which he has shot at least 50 percent in each of his past 10 games while shooting at least 15 field goal attempts. A remarkable feat if you think about it, and James did it earlier this season.

Such is life for Wade these days. Every notable accomplishment seems to be outdone by his teammate, who seems to be tying a bow on his fourth MVP. But like Wade said in January, he chose these surroundings. And with 18 wins in a row and another championship chase on the horizon, Wade’s in a pretty good spot right now.

“You just have to figure out what you’re comfortable with and what you want more out of life,” Wade said. “For me, I just want to be successful. When I’m not healthy, yeah, people can say things about me. But when I’m healthy, there’s not much you can say.”

 

[Da_Eggman]

Miami partying like it's 19

MIAMI -- They’re trying not to obsess over it or much less talk about it -- the coach refuses to mention it in meetings like it’s a no-hitter or something -- but the Miami Heat have gotten wrapped up in the historic winning streak they continue to extend.

They are now one of just seven teams in NBA history to win 19 in a row after they trounced the Atlanta Hawks, 98-81, Tuesday even on a night when LeBron James had his worst shooting performance of the season.

It has now been six weeks without a defeat and the Heat players have come to realize they’re tasting once-a-lifetime stuff. This run will not define their season -- the playoffs, of course, will determine that -- but the players can’t help to admit their awareness of the accomplishment.

“Let’s be honest, we’re not sitting here and saying this is not something special,” said James, who shot just 3-of-11 and scored 15 points while sitting out the fourth quarter.

“This is an unbelievable streak that we’re on. We’re playing great basketball. We’re winning different phases of the game. We’re winning different styles. We’ve won on the road, at home, double overtime games, at the end of regulation games, what the case may be. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s not special. But at the same time we don’t want to get caught up in it too much.”

After winning an important game Sunday against the rival Indiana Pacers, Tuesday had the feel of a potential trap game as the Heat prepared to leave on a five-game road trip. The Hawks, who came in holding the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, have twice played the Heat tough this season and have a reputation of being able to win anywhere.

At times earlier this season and even earlier during the win streak, the Heat were guilty of coming out flat against opponents like the Hawks. But fully invested in the streak, the Heat played with intensity and never trailed on their way to another blowout victory.

There was a time this season when the Heat had the look of underachievers. They were guilty of going through the motions and then dismissing the losses, even to top competition, as irrelevant because it was just the regular season.

When the winning streak started, the Heat were 28-14, which certainly isn’t bad. But it also didn’t represent anything near their potential as they were neck-and-neck with the New York Knicks for the top record in the conference and in the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder’s rearview for best overall mark.

During this past month and a half, however, not only have the Heat scored quality victories over teams you expect them to get up for, but they have brought it virtually every night. When they’ve been outplayed or been off their top form they haven’t just given away the game, they’ve fought to the end.

The streak has jarred the Heat into truly caring about every game -- something that’s a challenge for any NBA team during this marathon season and especially the defending champs, who have the long haul at the front of their minds -- and it has finally brought them to their potential.

“You know you’re a part of history right now, but you just want to keep winning and keep it up,” said Dwyane Wade, who had 23 points. “This team is put together to win championships, that’s what we’re measured by and that’s what we measure ourselves by … but this is a special time.”

In a normal situation, the mood late Tuesday night in the Heat's locker room would be a bit dour. They were scheduled to fly to Philadelphia after the game and didn’t think they’d get into their hotel until after 3 a.m. before having to play Wednesday night. It was the start of a five-game northern road trip and they were saying goodbye to family members for the next eight days.

Instead the players were skipping around, laughing and in a hurry to get to the plane. The streak has had the effect of eliminating the mundane, even a dead-of-night flight. It’s just not something seen often with a group of adults who are used to being stuck in a grind. It’s refreshing as it is revealing of just how much the streak has enlivened their season.

“It’s a privilege for us to get in our cars, hop on a plane and go do this again tomorrow night,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said without a hint of sarcasm. “That is the way we’re going to approach it. No excuses.”

Winning cures everything, it is said, and the Heat have forgotten what it’s like to do anything but. It’s like they’re stuck in a 1980s movie montage at the moment with victories spliced together with You Tube videos, antics and inside jokes.

“We don’t let the cameras in often to see this team but if we did we’d have a No. 1 hit show,” Wade said. “This is a great group of guys, a very fun team.”

Surveying the scene, one media member described it as “fun-loving.”

“That’s a little too much, fun-loving,” James said. “That’s like we’re kittens or something like