Miami HEAT, Cleveland Cavaliers Have Christmas Day Rematch; HEAT Fall

Chris Bosh being guarded by Kevin Love during tonight's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers

by Mike Escriba | Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle

Well, is this what everyone expected? 

I mean, to be honest, I believed there was a slight chance the HEAT could win this game.  So let’s go over the things that happened throughout that proved otherwise.

Let's get the obvious thing out of the way: We missed Dwyane Wade. 

There is nobody on this team that can set up Hassan Whiteside the way Wade does. There were many opportunities where I believe Hassan could’ve been a force in the paint, but no one can set him up where he feels comfortable.

Chris Bosh had a horrible game.

 As a Heat fan, I know many are very frustrated that he isn’t playing up to his contract right now. 

R-E-L-A-X.

He’s had to deal with different lineups, inconsistent point guards and he really wants to carry this team on his back. Right now, his shots seem a little too forced. There’s only so much the man can do. He'll bounce back once Wade returns, however, 15 points is not what we expected.

Luol Deng carried us the whole night, right? 

Not really...

Deng had 17 points on 5/13 shooting, pretty much the same stat line that Bosh gave this team. In fact, Chalmers was the top scorer for the HEAT with 18 points. Surprising, huh? 

Yes, he has ugly turnovers, but us Heat fans have learned to live with that.

Whiteside had a night of 17 points and 14 rebounds. I’m amazed at the numbers he’s putting up despite struggling and not getting setup correctly. Probably one of the positives to look forward to once the second half of the season continues with everyone healthy.   

Second positive: Napier seems to be flourishing as a pure point guard, and Spoelstra seems to trust him a lot more. 8 assists is definitely something this team needs from him.

 Dwyane Wade before tonight's game against Cleveland. Dwyane sat out again with a hamstring injury, but is expected to return after the All Star break.

Now to the Cavaliers:

LeBron James, to his standards, was having an off night. He had 18 points, 7 assists, 10 rebounds (sigh, I remember those nights in Miami). Even Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love didn’t have great nights. What killed Miami was the defense on Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson. At one point, they were 13/13 on their shots combined. They ended up 16/19, most on lobs and easy layups combining for 37 points, and they did a great job at forcing Miami to turn the ball over.

In the end, what I took away from this game is that the HEAT made a few good runs and looked like they could close the gap, but the Cavaliers' big men were just too much to overcome.  

 22-30 is the current record of the Miami HEAT, holding on to the 8^th seed. I expect a good run with these last 30 games with a healthy roster.

We now head into the All-Star break with Miami's next game scheduled for February 20 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City against the Knicks. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 PM.

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Mike Escriba is a columnist for Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle covering the Miami HEAT. He will also be featured on Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle Radio. You can follow him on Twitter @mikescriba.