The Miami Heat: Have They Turned the Corner After Their Recent Slump?
After dropping four in a row, the Miami Heat have now won their last two games, including Thursday's trilling 114-111 overtime victory against the visiting Los Angeles Lakers.
The Heat have been searching for something to change the momentum of a lackluster season and may have just found it in a game that was more about teamwork than Dwyane Wade going it alone.
Far too often this team has relied on their perennial All-Star to carry them to victory, but on Thursday, the rest of the Heat lineup delivered in the national spotlight.
Quentin Richardson went 7-11 from downtown before closing with a season-high 25 points.
Jermaine O'Neal, Udonis Haslem, and Carlos Arroyo added double-figures scoring totals as well.
The Heat finished the contest with 25 assists, displaying great ball movement throughout the night. A Lakers team that came into the night having won eight of their last ten, left dumbfounded.
This Miami team was a different beast than the one that's been on the court the last couple weeks.
On Tuesday, the Heat were able to escape with a 110-106 victory over the slumping Golden State Warriors, but the win was more ugly than anything else. That was a contest Miami should have won by a large margin. Instead, Ronny Turiaf lost the ball under the basket on the game's final play.
Against a better team, Miami checks one in the loss column after a performance like that. The victory inspired little confidence in the franchise going forward.
What this team showed against the Lakers was something entirely different. Despite giving back all of an eight-point fourth quarter lead, the Heat took over down the stretch and closed out the contest on the free-throw line.
A 39-point performance by Kobe Bryant wasn't enough for L.A. to withstand 52.5 percent shooting by Miami.
It was a night Wade was able to smile and enjoy a rare victory against one of the best team's in the NBA.
The question is where do the Heat go from here?
With five of their next games against Eastern Conference Playoff hopefuls, now is the time for the Heat to build off their recent success.
This is the message head coach Eric Spoelstra has been preaching all season long, and one that might finally be registering with the roster.
Big wins equal big confidence.
That's exactly what this Miami team has right now.
On Saturday, the 31-31 Heat will face off with an Atlanta Hawks team that has won five of their last six. The game will be the second night of a back-to-back set for the Hawks as they first head out west to take on the Warriors.
If the Heat are able to win that contest, it should be the start of a solid home stretch. Miami has seven of their next eight games at home. This is an important time for this team to step up or shut up.
They got the ball rolling against the Warriors, and just added a thick layer against the Lakers.
Now it's time to snowball.
