Heat-Jazz Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
Posted Mar 02 2012 2:58AM

The Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat may be without Chris Bosh, but that doesn't appear to be slowing down LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

James and Wade look to continue picking up the slack for their grieving teammate, and lead the Heat to their longest winning streak in over a year against the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

Bosh is expected to miss a second consecutive game due to a death in the family, leaving Miami (28-7) without his 18.4 points and team-leading 8.3 rebounds per game.

The Heat didn't miss a beat without their All-Star forward Thursday, opening this three-game road trip with a 107-93 win over Portland. James had 38 points with 11 boards, while Wade scored 33 and dished out 10 assists.

"We had a big piece of our team out, so I definitely had to step up my game to bring home this win," James said. "We showed up, the same team that played before the break.

Miami has won nine in a row, including six games on the road. The team hasn't had a longer overall winning streak since reeling off 12 straight victories from Nov. 29-Dec. 18, 2010.

James, third in the NBA with 27.7 points per game, and Wade will likely have a role in getting closer to that mark.

James is averaging 31.0 points over the last four road games, while Wade has a 28.0 average over the last four overall contests.

The duo came up big in the most recent visit to Utah (16-18) on Dec. 8, 2010, when James scored 33 points and Wade added 28 to power a 111-98 win. James, though, knows the real challenge will be keeping Utah from pounding the boards without Bosh.

"They're big on the inside, we have to keep them off the glass, with (Paul) Millsap and (Al) Jefferson and all those guys," he said. "We always know that Salt Lake City is a tough game."

The Jazz are hoping Devin Harris is healthy enough to help them build on the momentum generated by Wednesday's 104-83 victory over Houston. Harris wasn't feeling well, so he left the game in the third quarter after scoring 19 points in 22 minutes.

"That's the Devin I used to love and hate because he used to do that to us," Jefferson said of Harris' days in Dallas. "He did it the last couple of games, really stepped it up and attacked the basket. That's going to really get us going."

Harris is averaging 15.5 points and 5.5 assists over the last four games, an improvement from his 9.6 and 4.6 averages, respectively, overall.

He struggled in his most recent meeting with the Heat, making 1 of 4 field goals to finish with six points and one assist in a 101-89 loss with New Jersey on Nov. 6, 2010.

It's unclear if Utah will have forward Millsap (heel) and guard Raja Bell (adductor) back.

Millsap is second on the team with 15.7 points per game, and he averaged 32.0 points versus the Heat last season. That included a career-high 46 points with nine rebounds in a 116-114 overtime victory at Miami on Nov. 9, 2010.

Continued absences from them may mean more playing time for swingman C.J. Miles, who had a season-high 27 points while hitting 10 of 16 shots from the field Wednesday.

Harris, Jazz snap Heat's 9-game win streak

Posted Mar 03 2012 1:25AM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) LeBron James had the ball and a chance to finish a furious rally that would extend Miami's winning streak.

Instead, he left it up to Udonis Haslem.

Haslem missed a long jumper just before the buzzer, and the Utah Jazz help on for a 99-98 victory on Friday night that snapped the Heat's nine-game winning streak.

James had 35 points - 17 in the fourth quarter - 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots. He kicked the ball out to Haslem as Josh Howard and Paul Millsap converged on him and felt he made the right call because Haslem had a good look at the basket.

"I just try to make the right plays and do what it takes to win basketball games," James said. "At the end of the day, games are not lost on one shot at the end or me not taking a shot. But I know the chatter will begin. I wanted that game as bad as anyone else on that floor."

Devin Harris converted the go-ahead, three-point play with 4.5 seconds left. He wasn't planning to shoot, but center Al Jefferson was double-teamed and kicked it back out to the point guard, who made a runner in the lane while being fouled.

"I gave Al a funny look because I wasn't expecting to get the ball back that early," Harris said. "It really wasn't a true double-team. But he has confidence in me and he's been telling me all night he was going to kick it back out. He wants to be Magic Johnson, so we'll let him be Magic for tonight."

Dwyane Wade chipped in 31 points and six rebounds. Shane Battier also added 18 points for the Heat (28-8), who were playing without All-Star Chris Bosh.

"We are a very confident team," Wade said. "We never feel like we are out of the game. You just have to keep chipping away. We have guys that can make plays on both ends of the floor, so we are always very confident that we can get back into the game, especially on the road, to give ourselves the opportunity to win."

Miami had won all nine games in its streak by more than 10 points.

"We gave ourselves an opportunity to win," Wade said. "A lot of things didn't go in our favor, but we did what we wanted to do to be there in the end."

Al Jefferson came up with 20 points and six rebounds to lead the Jazz (17-18) to their second straight win. Five other players scored in double figures for Utah, led by C.J. Miles with 14 points off the bench.

James led a big fourth-quarter rally, making the go-ahead 3-pointer and then adding a long jumper to give the Heat a 97-94 lead with 26 seconds left. Miami had a chance to put it away, but Wade missed a free throw down the stretch and that put Harris in a position to tie the game or give the Jazz the lead.

"You think you have him under control," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "And then you get in the third quarter when the game was getting out of hand for them, and he just made plays for the rest of the quarter and the rest of the game. Some of those shots he made, there couldn't have been any better defense on him."

Utah dominated Miami in the first half in a fashion. The Jazz collected 29 rebounds compared to 13 for Miami. They grabbed two more offensive rebounds than the total rebounds the Heat collected as a team. Utah totaled 36 points in the paint versus 14 for Miami and scored 20 second-chance points compared to five for the Heat.

Battier burned the Jazz from the perimeter throughout the first quarter. The veteran forward buried all four 3-pointers he attempted in the first quarter and it helped the Heat carve out a 21-16 lead. Miami needed every one of those points to keep pace with a Utah team that sliced to the basket at will and controlled the paint early.

The Jazz had 16 points in the paint in the first quarter alone. They also scored seven second-chance points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Utah's effort around the glass paid off when Enes Kanter grabbed an offensive rebound, tossed up a short layup and converted the ensuing free throw to give the Jazz a 27-26 lead going into the second quarter.

"We played all-around good defense and communication is the key to that," Howard said. "Guys were talking to each other and our good defense created good offense for us."

Utah's dominance in the paint continued into the second quarter. Between a thundering dunk from Derrick Favors and layups from Kanter, Miles and Alec Burks, the Jazz picked apart Miami's interior defense and used an 18-4 run to take a 42-30 lead. A pair of jumpers from Jefferson and a driving layup by Harris helped push it to a 53-36 advantage for Utah with 2:21 left before halftime.

The Jazz pushed their lead to 74-56 midway through the third quarter after Gordon Hayward made three straight baskets and set up Harris on a 3-pointer to cap a 13-4 Utah run.

Miami rallied toward the end of the quarter behind Wade and James. Wade made a couple of key baskets to shift momentum back to the Heat. James built the pressure on the Jazz by answering every potentially big basket from Utah with one of his own.

James made six baskets over a five-minute stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters to cut the Jazz lead to 85-79 with 8:17 left. He accounted for 12 of 14 points scored during that stretch. He later made a pair of baskets on back-to-back possessions to tie it at 88 with 4:48 remaining.

Notebook: Jazz 99, Heat 98

Posted Saturday March 3, 2012 12:53AM

By Andrew Aragon, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: It was an All-Star game redo -- and an exceptionally positive development for the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

LeBron James played on a level that only he can, leading a furious fourth-quarter charge, and had a chance to win the game on its last possession. But instead of attempting a potentially game-winning shot, he passed to teammate Udonis Haslem, who missed as time expired and the Heat fell short.

Utah point guard Devin Harris, instead of James, provided the game-winning points as he converted a three-point play with 4.5 seconds remaining to lift the Jazz to a 99-98 win over the Heat. Utah led by as many as 18 in the third quarter, fell behind by three in the final minute, and then pulled out the dramatic victory.

Miami had won nine straight games by double digits, the second-longest streak in league history.

QUOTABLE: "I just try to make the right plays and do what it takes to win basketball games. At the end of the day, games are not lost on one shot at the end or me not taking a shot, but I know the chatter will begin. I wanted that game as bad as anyone else on that floor."
--Heat forward James on how he'll be second-guessed after passing to Haslem.

THE STAT: Forget about his last pass. In James' last two games he's gone 35-10-5 with no turnovers. He had 35 points, 10 rebounds and six assists against the Jazz. On Thursday, he had 38 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in a win over Portland. Again, with no turnovers.

TURNING POINT: After blowing an 18-point lead, the Jazz simply executed better than the Heat in the game's final 45 seconds. Down 97-94, Al Jefferson tipped in a miss to get Utah within one. Dwyane Wade, who finished with 31 points, was fouled with 14 seconds left and made just one of two attempts. The Jazz called two timeouts before Harris made a floater and sank a free throw to give Utah its winning margin.

HOT: Shane Battier, who averaged 4.4 points per game prior to Friday, tied his season-high in the first half with 15 points. He shot 5-for-5 from 3-point range in the first half, and finished 18 points. Jefferson was Utah's top scorer with 20 points.

NOT: The Heat went ice cold during an eight-minute stretch in the second quarter. They shot 2-for-10 during those eight minutes, and saw a 31-29 deficit stretch to 53-36. Miami point guards Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole couldn't throw it in the ocean, as they combined to shoot 2-for-14 in the defeat. Josh Howard (4-for-15) and C.J. Miles (5-for-14) had off-shooting nights for Utah.

QUOTABLE II: "We punched it into Al (Jefferson), Al kicked it out. I looked at the clock, (there were) about seven and a half seconds left. I just tried to make a play the best that I could -- gave him a pump fake, and was able to get to the lane and made a tough shot. We did a good job of spacing out."
--Jazz guard Harris on the game-deciding play.

GOOD MOVE: James changed the game's momentum while playing at point guard. He started running the team and guarding Utah's point when Miami fell behind 74-56 in the third quarter, and brought the Heat all the way back and put them in position to win. He effectively played facilitator in the final minutes of the third, then took the game over in the fourth. He scored 17 of his points on 8-for-9 shooting in the fourth.

BAD MOVE: Although his stats were great and he played another all-around solid game, Wade committed two bad fouls in the final minutes. With the game tied 92-92 with 2:05 remaining, Wade fouled Harris in 3-point range. Harris made two of the three foul shots. On Utah's final possession, it was Wade who hacked Harris on a short runner, putting him at the line and allowing him to put in the game-winning point.

ROOKIE WATCH: Utah's Enes Kanter and Alec Burks did not shy away from big moments against the Heat. Kanter banged inside and had 11 points and six rebounds. Burks scored six points in eight minutes.

QUOTABLE III: "We got an open shot. He made the right play."
-- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra on James passing to Haslem.

NOTABLE: It was the second straight game both James and Wade scored at least 30 points. Miami dropped to 5-1 when Battier starts. A Heat player didn't foul out, stretching the team's record to 88 straight games without a foul out. Utah had a 50-32 edge in rebounds.

UP NEXT: For the Heat, Sunday @ L.A. Lakers, Tuesday vs. Nets, Wednesday vs. Hawks. For the Jazz, Saturday @ Dallas, Monday @ Cleveland, Wednesday @ Charlotte.

• Heat: Bosh, Gladness
• Jazz: Bell

• Heat: --
• Jazz: Corbin

• Lead Changes: 11
• Times Tied: 12

• Arena: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
• Officials: #57 Greg Willard, #35 Kane Fitzgerald, #38 Michael Smith
• Attendance: 19911
• Duration: 2:21