Miami Heat win Christmas Day Showdown: The Call

And what a game it was. In my previous post I called this game to be a Heat win making me 4/4 so far but parts of the details where incorrect. Firstly I was under the assumption that this game was going to be played at OKC but this was obviously incorrect. It did however not change many of the other facets of the game in regards to the call. My main concern was for the Heat to have enough space against Oklahoma City Thunder by at least the last 5 minutes to keep them away. They did. It was only a few points but this was enough to pull out the W. It was not enough though to push to that 8-15 points cushion by the final buzzer but it was a 6 point win 103-97.

Matchups

The LeBron James vs Kevin Durant matchup was on full display on this one, KD going for 33 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists on 11-21 from the field, whilst LeBron finished with 29 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists shooting 12-20 from the field. Durant was in early foul trouble, but after a slow first half he came alive as expected.
The second matchup was the Dwyane Wade vs Russell Westbrook where they both went for 21 points. Westbrook was inefficient in his outing though shooting 5-19 from the field totaling 11 boards and 3 assists along with 5 turnovers.Wade on the other hand was 8-17 from the field getting 5 boards and 5 assists, also with 5 turnovers. He had a untimely turnover in the final stages allowing the Thunder to get within 1 points with less than a minute to go.

Notable

Mario Chalmers went for 20 points today, scoring 3's and even burning Westbrook on an occasion or two for easy layups at the basket. Ray Allen was only 1-5 from the field only getting one 3 in this one and getting shaken up in the physical game, but boy is it a luxury to have a go to man in the clutch to keep another team playing the foul game against the clock. He was 4-4 to help close things out. Chris Bosh went for a quiet 16 points and 6 boards but only played 31 minutes because of early foul trouble.

Stats

This game was a physical one with so many collisions throughout. Both LeBron James and Kevin Durant had technical fouls in the first half. In the second half Dwyane Wade and Serge Ibaka both picked up technical fouls after a hard foul on Westbrook by Shane Battier (which had a flagrant-1 call removed after review). 51 Foul calls were made in the game. The physicality of the game did not leave a negative connotation with these two teams but more so a playoff defense type feel from both teams. The anticipated finals rematch was a must watch on Christmas and it definitely delivered with no team running away with it throughout.
The Heat now move to 19-6, sitting atop the East, while the Thunder are now 21-6 still leading the league. The Heat shot at 47.5% today and only 28.6% from three point land. They where though 19-19 from the line and assisted on 20 of the 38 field goals made.They lost the rebound game by 7 but this was not a big issue with the Heat getting 9 offensive boards, just 2 short of the Thunder on the offensive glass. Defensively the Heat held the Thunder to 42.3% shooting and 31.3% from three. The Thunder got significantly more free throw attempts in this one shooting 32-38 from the line.

The Call

The next 4 games on the Heat's roster include the Charlotte Bobcats tomorrow, and 2 days later a back-to-back against the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks and 2 days later against the Orlando Magic. These 4 games closing out the 2012 portion of the season are very winnable games for the Heat. It's hard to imagine the Heat going 3-1 in this stretch or less (in terms of wins) but I have to consider this as an outcome with the Heat so far prone to have a hiccup in a stretch that is very "winnable". Then again, the Heat look very different over the last 5 games and now on a 4 game win streak including this statement W over the Thunder, I don't see the Heat defense changing. They have  kept the last 5 teams under 100 points while maintaining the offense that was working early in the season.
This combination makes me feel at this point that the Heat will go 4-0 on this stretch with the Heat getting their highest win streak of the season and closing out the year strong. We'll check in after each of the 4 games to see how I go on this call.

Miami Heat On Track So Far? Calling the Christmas Day G

Following my post where I called the 3 games leading into the Christmas day game against the Oklahoma City Thunder I've got 3/3 correct so far. This call will be a little harder as I expressed in the previous post. To recap: at that point the two scenarios I saw was a Heat win by 8-15 points and if the Heat haven't separated themselves from OKC by the last 5 minutes then they will likely lose the game.

The Heat will be playing on the road against the number one team in the league to this point. The Heat thus far are only 5-4 in games on the road and winning a road game of this magnitude will be a statement game showing that the Heat team are once again a good road team (as they were in the previous two seasons).

The Call

This finals matchup  will be an exciting one either way but I'm calling a Heat W in this one. Both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will be a handful without a doubt, but I feel the position-less offense the Miami Heat run, matches well against the Thunder's defense. Head to head matchup of KD vs Lebron and Westbrook vs Wade will be intriguing throughout. The X-factors will play a big difference in this one and whichever teams bench/shooters are performing better will dictate the flow of the game. - Not necessarily the result as this falls onto a combination of the superstars and shooters for both teams.

We'll follow up after the game and see how I am on calling the season after this point. Merry Christmas!

Miami Heat On Track so far ? 3/3

This is the third game out of a small stretch leading into the Christmas game that I called for the Heat. You can see this at this post. The Miami Heat defeated the Utah Jazz 105-89 and although the Heat pulled away setting the tone early in the third, it was a tough fought battle for the most part. The Jazz just wouldn't go away even after being down by almost 20 points at one point in the third, it took passed midway through the fourth quarter before the Heat could truly separate themselves and ultimately rest their stars in the final few minutes.
With a big front line and Miami's Chris Bosh out with a flu, Udonis Haslem started at center making for a front court with Shane Battier and LeBron James.

Stats

LeBron started slow and was more aggressive in the second half, finishing with 30 points on 11-20 shooting. This worked out fine as Dwyane Wade was playing well from the start ending up with a triple double like stat-line of 21 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists and was efficient too going 8-14 shooting.
The Heat as a team was efficient once again going 52.1% in Field Goals and 45.8% from three. They also finished with 23 assists for 38 field goals made, a little less than the past 2 games but still on par with where it should be, reflecting the Heats ability to share and move the ball for the right shot. They lost the rebound battle and against a big team this is expected, but the difference was only 4 which is still where they want to be as this is not their strength.

Notable

Other players that stepped up were Udonis Haslem, finally starting to make his 15 ft jumper again - still not quite there, but much improved over the last few games. Shane Battier had a good shooting night. Striking early in the 1st, and in the third when the Heat made the initial run that separated the Heat for the night and went for 15 points. Ray Allen also scored some timely three's there in the fourth going for 13 points on 4/5 shooting

So know the Heat are 18-6 heading into the Christmas game, closing in on the Knicks for the top spot in the East, and looking pretty good to match up against the number one team in the league right now, the Oklahoma City Thunder. This puts my call to 3 out of 3 correct the last three games and perhaps its time to consider who will win the Christmas showdown.

The call

I'll do this in two parts. Right now there are 2 scenarios I can see playing out that I'll mention here and I'll make a pick a little closer to the game. At this stage we know that OKC at home with that home crowd is going to be LOUD this Christmas and we know the Heat are only currently 5-4 on the road. This will be a big challenge for the Heat and if their ready and bring the right energy from the beginning of the game I can see this as a statement game, winning the game between 8-15 points.
On the flip side though, if the Heat haven't got enough separation from OKC by the last 5 minutes in the fourth, I fear it could be a tough loss for the Heat on the road.

Either way it will be a good one. Merry Christmas to all!