LeBron James, Dwyane Wade Continue to Click as Heat Win Seventh Straight
nba.fanhouse.com
By Sam Amick
Senior NBA Writer | Follow on Twitter: @samickAOL
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OAKLAND -- The boos were there.
Of course the boos were there.
The boos are everywhere for these hated Miami Heat, with the superstar in the devil's No. 6 who drew the nightly chorus of negativity on Friday at Oracle Arena just as he has everywhere else not near the panhandle. But LeBron James is wearing them down. Dwyane Wade is wearing them down. The Heat are wearing them down, them being these dispirited fans who show up in droves to see the latest beatdown and the teams themselves -- seven straight, for those who are counting -- that continue to fall.
Miami darted past Golden State 106-84 in the latest one-sided outing, marking the first time in franchise history the Heat have won this many games by at least 10 points in succession while putting them atop the Eastern Conference's Southwest Division at 16-8. And the boos said everything about how much things have changed in these last two weeks.
They lacked the passion, the fervor, the joy that came when the evidence backed up the emotion for those not in favor of what James, Wade and Chris Bosh decided to do here. Yet if the intent of the many who cup their hands to their mouths is truly to nudge the Heat closer to failure, they really ought to either go silent or perhaps cheer wildly for the simple sake of reverse psychology. This approach, for everyone but the Heat, isn't working anymore.
As Heat coach Erik Spoelstra noted of the doom and gloom predictions that prevailed after Miami's loss at Dallas on Nov. 27, "everybody was ready to implode our team after the Dallas game and people were talking about ... us dropping to six (seed in the playoffs)." But the two sides of the Heat are starting to unify, the Big Three finding their rhythm while the reserve cast, albeit belatedly, is taking more pride in its part by the day.
This was just eight days after the boos of LeReturn in Cleveland, back when the fuel that was supposed to be for the anti-Heat fire was clearly fueling the Heat. As was the case in that game, James exploded in the third quarters against the Warriors (15 points on five of eight shooting, five rebounds) when the Heat's perimeter-based defense locked down and sparked a flurry of fantastical fast breaks (12 of 27 fast break points in the period.) James had his fun with Wade on the bench late, hitting three three-pointers in the final 88 seconds of the quarter to help push a 13-point lead to 19 entering the fourth.
It was the overwhelming answer to a sluggish first half in which Miami led 48-45. But inferior opponent or not, this group is grasping its identity now -- defend, rebound, run, repeat -- and James and Wade, by their own declaration, have officially figured each other out.
Wade, who recovered from a first-quarter elbow from Andris Biedrins that had him lying on the floor for nearly three minutes, had 34 points on 12 of 20 shooting, nine rebounds and seven assists. James finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.
The duo's production came just short of Wednesday's banner affair, when James' 33 points and Wade's 28 in a win over Utah marked the first time they'd each scored at least 28 points all season. Asked to put into words the newfound effectiveness of the duo, James took a deep breath before giving his best attempt.
"Whew ... I think (it's) the not thinking part," he said. "I think also it's just going out and playing our game. I think we were doing a little bit too much of trying to be too unselfish for each other instead of just going out and playing our game and letting us figure it out on the fly. Once we did that, it's resulted in us playing great basketball individually, which has helped our team a lot."
With a road trip finale Saturday at Sacramento followed by Monday's home game against New Orleans and another sacrificial meeting with Cleveland in Miami on Wednesday, it's a scary notion for the league that the chemistry might in fact exist here. And no matter how many times the Heat's obvious weaknesses at point guard and center are discussed, the power of a productive and potent James-Wade pairing is undeniable.
"I think that task (of playing effectively together) is behind us," James said. "I think if it was a one- or two-game thing, you'd be like, 'OK, we're still trying to figure it out.' I think as a team we're still trying to figure things out, but I think as far as me and D-Wade on the court at the same time, we've kind of figured that out.
"We watched film together, had a couple of opportunities to watch film and talk about the game and things that can help both of us succeed. But also being out on the court -- practices, games. D-Wade wasn't around all of training camp (due to injury) for the most part. He was rehabbing and had some personal things he had to deal with throughout the preseason. That time was very valuable that we didn't get an opportunity to have. But games and practices and things we do off the court has definitely helped."
Keep booing if you must, but the Heat are finally giving their fans plenty to cheer.
E-mail Sam at amick.sam@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @samickAOL.
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