1/18: ATL @ Heat

[HMFFL]

Miami fans tend to blame Erik Spoelstra and not Lebron James for attempting a damn near half court shot. Miami was 26-29 from the line, so no reason for them to lose this game.

[CAM]

That and 1 dunk by Josh (from a nice dish by Bibby) was sick, and at a pivotal time.

Way to grind out a win Hawks.

[nvc]

very ugly game - but awesome win for the hawks.

Drew's motion offense has all but disappeared - but JJ and Jamal are two of the best iso players in the league. As long as they continue to pass out of double teams I don't really have a problem with this (provided Al still gets his shots when playing).

Bulls lost tonight too. We're right in the middle of the east's "big four" now.

[SAUCERY_SWEET]

Gritty win anyway you look at it, when we were down 6 in the 4th it looked bad but that Josh dunk really sparked them. This team has a different feel than the last couple of years; it just feels like they will fight no matter what. I think who ever we end up with in the playoffs will have a hell of a time with us, more heart it seems.

[dms269]

Dwayne Wade trying to take a charge falls on the court and starts to complain. Big basket by Josh Smith.

Joe Johnson and the entire team is hitting some very clutch shots.

I was waiting for the T after that and then after Bron lost the ball and didn't get the call he wanted. How they were able to complain and yell at the refs for no T's shows that there is a superstar rule.

[evildallas]

Great win in an ugly playoff style game. Disappointed that in the coverage of the game by ESPN they didn't even mention Al getting hurt. I'm biased but he's just as important as Chris Bosh in my opinion.

Couple of comments on the comments:
Spoelstra didn't call those long bombs by Lebron. He doesn't have the stroke to call plays for his superstars so he's quit trying. Lebron and Wade run a playground offense and are so talented to make it work however sometimes a set play is needed to get the best opportunity.
I don't think Drew called an alley oop to Josh Smith with 50 seconds left. I think it was just a reaction to what became available as they doubled Joe close to mid-court and the pass sailed on Joe.

Great play by Joe to exploit the Heat thinking we were going to call timeout (at least I think that is what happened). It would have been better if he could have just slammed it home although Jamal hit the open 3. I sometimes get frustrated when one of our guys kicks the ball out to the 3 while standing a foot from the basket (yes, I'm talking about Josh). In this case it was probably for the best as he was unlikely to get the call at the rim if Lebron went for the block and got body.

Also props to our small lineups defense on Wade and Lebron down the stretch. If only we could have keep Anthony off the boards a little better.

[CALPURNIA]

Last night I finished watching this game (in Spain the time difference makes difficult to watch them live and then you have to get some time to watch it through the day).

I was happy with the win, but very angry for many things I saw.

Firstly, regarding the general atmosphere around the game, I think it is unfair the referee's treatment for the Heat players. Also the press and television comments about Bosh's absence (and Haslem's) and not much about Al and Marvin, who could be a very LBJ defender.

But, as an overall thought, I believe our game is catastrophic. Do we really have somebody on the side called a coach? I saw everyplayer made what he wanted to and nobody had the guts to make JJ see that is not the way. He plays isolation every single posession and the bad thing is the results are really bad.

Also the five players on the court were not the best possible combination at every moment. Why play with Collins just the day they are not using a center? Why noy using Powell in this kind of game? Why not getting JSmoove some rest in the second half?

But, most importantly, why we were uncapable of getting a ball in the paint so we can take advantage of our fisical superiority? We just shot 8 FTs while confronting the likes of Jones, Anthony, Howard and LBJ inside.