Poe

I was actually defending him in the offseason. Definitely a top 5 PG. Nash/Deron/Paul > him still, but not by too much. He still needs a consistent jumper.

UD's last shot attempt was the last basket made for the Heat that game, including free throws, of course. I don't think I need to back him up any more. He did a great job, and I don't see how Beasley could have done any better than him. Beasley had a short spurt in the third, but it wasn't "clean". He was making mistakes for every good thing he did. The only good thing I saw from him was that he was being really aggressive.. too aggressive. It led to a few bad plays, like the ones I mentioned before about goaltending, and Spoe didn't pull him until Beasley was continually fouling play after play. If Beasley gets automatic playing time despite playing this way, it doesn't give him the right mindset moving forward. It's a learning process for him. I didn't agree with that, either. Magloire should have been guarding Shaq. Joel is too small, and it probably would have been better to foul him rather than letting him get all those easy baskets. I'm liking Chalmers less and less, too. He has flashes here and there but... it will only be by next year when the Heat could be in a position at heading for a Championship. He has to be ready by then if he is to reach these "high hopes" that Spoelstra and Riles set for him. Right now, the Chalmers experiment is not looking good. Spoelstra made the adjustment today, though. Chalmers had zero minutes in the second half.

There goes your Wade-stopper

Varejao and Beasley are two different players with two different roles playing for two different teams. No connection whatsoever. If you want to argue my point on Varejao, then please explain why the team is +12 with him on the floor, which wasn't coincidental but a cause of his energy rubbing off on his teammates. That is his role on the court. His overall impact exceeded his few bad plays. Beasley, on the other hand, was constantly up and down. A couple boneheaded plays, a couple made shots. Forces a turnover here, then commits a few fouls there. His role was to be a playmaker and be reliable defensively. He was not consistent with either.

I love the Heat announcers. Very unbiased, they usually give good interesting facts, speak positively about every player, and never fail to be enthusiastic.

Sorry, I don't remember Beasley getting in any kind of groove. What sticks out in my mind is some boneheaded plays, like when he goal-tended a shot that didn't have a chance of going in, and when he had a basket interference on a shot that WAS going in. That's an easy 4 points right there. Those would have been nice at the end of the game. Plus those those 3 straight personal fouls in the fourth quarter doesn't leave much room for Spoelstra to want to keep him in. With the Cavs' defense focused on Wade, Haslem played very well scoring 8 points in the fourth quarter. And, sure, he had no impact after that off balance lay up with barely a minute left to put the Heat up 1 - with the next possession equaling a foul against Wade (which resulted in 2 missed free throws) - next possession a turnover on Wade - and last possession a Wade missed basket. So, yea, what a poor, poor decision by Spoelstra to put in veteran player like Haslem, who obviously played so poorly, instead of keeping in a guy who is foul-prone, isn't reliable in defensive rotation, and was making bad plays offensively despite making a few shots in the 3rd quarter. Yep, Spoelstra lost the Heat the game, once again. Absolutely NOTHING to do with going 0-5 from the FT line in the last 5 minutes, or Wade scoring only two points in the second half, and especially not that behind-the-back pass to LBJ with 8 seconds left. Nope. It was ALL Spoelstra

What AV did goes beyond stats and individual plays. His overall energy and hustle from the moment he stepped on the court rubbed off on his teammates and changed the pace of the game for the Cavs. There was a clear difference when he was on and off the floor. Shaq's efficiency scoring down low with the basketball was a key factor, but not as much as Varejao's energy.

Wade scored 2 points in the second half.........

For the Cavs, I think their X factor was Anderson Varejao. His energy is the reason the Cavs were able to stay in the game.

The Heat took 29 foul shots and made only 58.6 percent.

Heartbreaking loss... :(

All eyes on Wade.....

So LeBron DOES feel pain after all...

Yikes... not something you expect from Wade.

How come the Cavs' PGs are always killing the Heat from 3 -_-

Lol!! How many times will the Heat run the same play before the Cavs finally get out on Haslem

It was Wade time the first half. Now it's Beasley time

Yea. They need AV in the game.

Damn CF, why do you keep taking shots at the Heat? Yes, we know what the team records are. We know who has the more realistic look at the championship this year. We know who is the better team. Now, please, just enjoy the game, man.

Wow...

Argh.. all of the Heat's young players have not shown up today <_<

Offense has been dead on both ends to start the quarter.

Q-Rich has done a tremendous job on LeBron. Hopefully Wright will be able to put up the same effort. Varejao and Jawad are picking up the energy for the Cavs.

So far Real Deal has been on the money. Shaq had the Cavs' first 8 points tonight, yet just got his 2nd foul. The Cavs have looked very sluggish to start the game, while the Heat are just runnin and gunnin. I'm really liking what I'm seeing out there from Miami, especially Jermaine drawing that charge on LeBron :D