The Miami Heat are still rolling with 8 straight wins under their belt and they will look to extend the streak to 9 tonight against the Atlanta Hawks. The Heat have been playing great basketball lately and the reason is because everybody touches the ball. Everyone is able to make a play and score and that allows other shot opportunities.
The Heat have several big bodies on their roster, and when they get in the paint they are scoring threats. A difference maker on this team is Willie Reed. The reason Reed has made such a difference on the Heat is because he is a big body that plays hard with the second unit.
In the last 3 games the Heat have played they have extend their leads at the end of these games. At the start of the winning streak the Heat would come away with 6 and 4 point wins. Now at the end of these games they would finish with 12 and 13 point leads.
This is an improvement for the Heat because they are showing that they are capable of keeping the lead when they get it. If the Heat make it hard for other teams to get the lead back after it is lost, that makes them a tough team to beat.
The Heat matched up against the Chicago Bulls and came away with a 100-88 win. The Heat dominated that game in many ways, but none more notable then from the free throw line.
They shot 81.8% from the line and that would prove to be big in the final score. Players that came up big for the Heat in this game were Willie Reed and Goran Dragic.
They were the top scorers on the team with Reed scoring 20 and Dragic scoring 26. Dragic would also dish out 11 assists for a double-double and lead his team to victory. This great play from the Heat would continue in the next couple of games.
In their game against the Detroit Pistons he Heat would win 116-103. Dragic would have another huge scoring game with 23 points. Hassan Whiteside would have a good game with 12 rebounds and 9 points coming just shy of a double-double.
Although Pistons center Andre Drummond had a huge game with 20 rebounds and 17 points his team could not help get the win. The Heat’s bench played better than the Pistons bench and that was a big factor in this game.
The Heat bench outscored the Pistons bench 46 to 35. The Heat’s second unit is what is helping them win games.
The Heat played against the Nets and came away with a 104-96 win. In their last two meeting the Heat have had the Nets number, and they will be meeting again later in the season.
The Nets have been struggling all season having the league’s worst record at 9-39. The stars that shined in this game for the Heat were Dragic and Dion Waiters. Dragic would score 20 points and have 8 assists having another big game.
Waiters would finish the game with 19 points and 9 assists. If the Heat can keep this winning streak going and inch closer and closer to the .500 mark they will be able to save their season. They have a 19-30 record and will have to keep climbing in order to attempt to make the playoffs.