Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Miami Heat: Windhorst Beat Blog
By Brian Windhorst, The Plain Dealer
February 04, 2010, 12:30PM
CLEVELAND -- Pre-game from The Q:
Projected starting linueps
Heat: Rafer Alston, Dwyane Wade, Quentin Richardson, Michael Beasley, Jermaine O'Neal
Cavs: Daniel Gibson, Anthony Parker, LeBron James, JJ Hickson, Shaquille O'Neal
Officials
Bob Delaney, Brian Forte, Ed Malloy
• Delonte West is out again tonight but he did do some work with the splint on his finger after shootaround. He's getting closer. There are some indications that he might play before the All-Star break. I think the team would like to have him for the Magic game next week. Mario Chalmers is out for the Heat with a thumb injury.
• Cavs caught the Memphis Grizzlies on a tough back-to-back on Tuesday after they played the Lakers. Now they are catching the Heat on a tough one, Miami played in Boston last night in a game that didn't end until 11 p.m. The Heat have a thin bench as it is. Several of their players are battling back issues right now, Jermaine O'Neal missed a game with spasms earlier this week. Often you see back injuries flare up in back-to-backs.
• The Cavs were in this situation often earlier this season, playing a load of back-to-backs. They played in Miami a night after a late TV game in Orlando when the Heat had the previous night off. In fact, Miami reguarly grabs teams on back-to-backs after they get beat up in Orlando, especially Western Conference teams. So this is just the churn in the schedule.
• The Wade/LeBron matchup is always attractive and often produces fireworks, like last week when they combined for 37 points in the second quarter. The Heat present a tough defensive challenge for the Cavs. When Wade goes into his high pick-and-roll game -- man, I don't know why Miami doesn't run this twice as much, frankly -- they are so hard to guard. Wade's ability to corner and switch direction on the way to the rim makes him deadly coming off screens. That is why the Cavs try to double team him on those high screens and then he is able to find guys for wide open shots.
Regularly Miami wins or loses depending on what those guys do. Some nights Richardson or Haslem really get it going. But most nights they don't. That is what happened in Boston last night, the Heat went ice cold when the Celtics were doubling Wade in the fourth quarter and Boston slipped past them.
All of this is why this season has to be maddening for Wade. He's going to be a free agent and the Heat are refusing to use their trade assets to get him help in the name of saving cap space. It is a giant gamble that may pay off big time, as I wrote about in depth last week, but when I watch Wade lose without help you can't help to think he's frustrated.
