HEAT 101 - Nets 78 Recap

October 31 -- Less than 48 hours after topping the Orlando Magic by 26 in their home opener, the Miami HEAT hardly experienced a letdown in beating the New Jersey Nets, 101-78 (Box Score), on the road Sunday afternoon.

In fact, from top to bottom, the HEAT might have played even better, particularly on offense.

Against Orlando, the HEAT still pulled off a big win despite shooting 40 percent from the field, in part because it held the Magic to 77.8 points per 100 possessions. The Nets couldn’t score much more efficiently against Miami’s swarming defense – one which saw little drop off despite the game being in hand early in the second half – at 85.6 per 100 possessions, but for the first time in four games, the HEAT’s offense was firing on all cylinders, shooting over 60 percent through three quarters.

Three quarters was effectively all it took to seal the win, with the HEAT up 24 headed into the fourth.

While the previous three games of the season had largely been unbalanced offensive affairs, with LeBron James scoring 31 against Boston and Dwyane Wade hitting for 25-plus in the following two, Sunday saw six players hit double figures and eight score at least six.

“It just happens that way,” James said. “We would hope that every game it happens like this. Anytime you have balance like that . . . that’s great.”

And not only did the team dish 29 assists on 36 field goals with the ball moving in both transition and half court sets, but all three of James, Wade and Chris Bosh scored at least eight more points than the number of shots they attempted.

“Everyone is talking about offense but our offense is going to take time,” Wade said. “It’s coming, from game one to now game four. It’s still not where we want it to be.”

As coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game, he doesn’t want this to become a “taking turns” team, and Sunday may have been first true glimpse of where he wants the offense to be headed.

“We were trusting and patient and didn’t try to make the hero play,” Spoelstra said.

Cleaning up the boards

The only true blemish on the HEAT’s afternoon – aside from a quick start from Brook Lopez that was solved by Wade attacking him and forcing his second foul in the first quarter – was that the Nets, rookie Derrick Favors in particular, were controlling the offensive glass in the first half.

But, as the HEAT have done in the early going, they fixed the problem after halftime. Spoelstra said the boards were leaking through because players weren’t boxing out the people they were rotating on to, but in the second half Favors only grabbed two offensive rebounds after eight in the first two quarters.

This was also why the Nets shot 18 more shots than Miami, but thanks to the HEAT defense made six fewer.

Good Sunday

While this is an easy win to chalk up and move on from, it’s worth noting again that the HEAT suffered no hangover after their intense home opener against a division rival. For whatever reason, some teams develop issues with weekend afternoon games, especially on the road.

Good teams, too. While some of it is due to the players’ routine being upset, the Detroit Pistons had well-recorded struggles on Sundays three years ago when they went 1-8 on the day while still vying for the title. The Boston Celtics, too, have had their difficulties with slow starts on Friday night and Sunday afternoon games, so it’s a good early sign that the HEAT managed the altered schedule well – they have nine Sunday games after the New Year.

So far, so good

The HEAT have only allowed 323 points through the first four games of the season, which is a franchise record. But more importantly, they have not yet let an opponent top 100 points per 100 possessions in a contest. Every single team in the league topped that mark for the 2009-10 season.

Next up

The 3-1 HEAT take on the Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday at home, when they could take the lead in the Southeast Division, by percentage points, should the 3-0 Atlanta Hawks lose on the same night.