Call me crazy. Say I'm deep in Sports Depression Denial. I don't believe you. Because I think there's plenty of good things to take away from tonights contest.
First of all, the Heat did what they were supposed to do. Playoff series doesn't start until someone wins on the road. The Heat won both games at home. Won't be nearly as easy in Beantown.
But what you ask can we take away from this game? What is there to smile about? Well for one there was the play of our bench. That James Jones character didn't score a point. Delonte chipped in 10 points and Jeff Green looked like exactly what Boston fans have been hoping we'd see since the trade, adding 11 off the bench.
The fact of the matter is our Big 3 did not play at the level we need them to. KG was clearly being more aggressive, taking to heart whatever it was Danny Ainge tried to instill in him. Paul was clearly hampered by whatever foot injury he was dealing with. He just couldn't be as aggressive off the dribble. I didn't get the impression it was too big a deal though, and look for him to be more effective in Game 3. Rondo was also being fairly Rondo-ish, finishing with 20 points and 12 assists.
In my mind the biggest issue was the disappearance of Ray Allen. Felt a little bit like the end of the regular season, when Ray's shot totals dropped significantly. But at that time it had a lot to do with Rondo's struggles, which led to a loss of ball movement. I'm not sure what the story was with todays game. Wade did a better job chasing him around screens I guess.
It's tough to find the answers right now. It is easy for fans to blame Danny Ainge and wonder how much of a difference Perk or even Tony Allen would have made in this one. That's neither here nor there. The reality is the Heat haven't won in Boston yet this year, and we haven't even come close to playing our best basketball.
We do need to put together a complete game on Saturday. I definitely expect to see Shaq and if he's healthy he could be a really big help. But still the margin for error is very slim now.
I wonder how much weight I'll lose by this weekend.
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