Miami Heat: Observations on LeBron James and the Heat After Win over the Nets

All they do is win, win, win no matter what...

The Miami Heat did it again, winning without injured shooting guard Dwyane Wade.  Only this time, they had LeBron James back in the starting lineup after sitting out one game with an ankle injury.

Sure, it was against the 2-7 New Jersey Nets, who have yet to win a home game and rank 29th in offensive output (84.7 PPG), but winning without Wade is still impressive.

More impressive than the fact that the Heat won the game was the production of LeBron James—who couldn't be stopped by anyone on the Nets' roster—and another solid overall defensive performance in holding the Nets to 33.7 percent shooting.

The Nets couldn't find an answer for the explosive play of James, who outscored New Jersey's entire team by himself in the first quarter with 22 points, compared to the Nets' 18 points.

Oh, by the way, LeBron didn't miss a single shot in the first quarter—pretty impressive no matter who you're up against.  Sure, his performance was against the lowly Nets and their 20th-ranked defense, but it solidified LeBron as the foundation of the Heat's offense.

In LeBron's first eight games of the season, he has only scored 26-or-fewer points in one game.  If you take out LeBron's rough performance against the Bobcats, he would be averaging 32.7 points per game.  While that isn't his season average, his average of 30.1 points, which currently leads the NBA in scoring, isn't far away.

While it is utterly unimportant "whose team" Miami is, in his last two games without Wade, LeBron has put together a pretty convincing case as to why the Heat are his team.  

Without Wade on the court, LeBron has averaged 32.5 points, 11 assists and 7.5 rebounds, which are all increases in production when compared to the year overall.  The most impressive statistic, however, is the 61.2 percent shooting percentage LeBron has produced without Wade on the court.

In reality, all of that doesn't truly prove anything, but in the world of speculation, piecing together that statistical information can create a case for why LeBron James is the best and most dominant player on the Miami Heat's roster.  

I know it's pointless, but bear with me for just one minute.  While Wade hasn't had a chance to carry the Miami Heat without LeBron or Chris Bosh on the court, LeBron has, and he has risen to the challenge in those opportunities.

Without Wade in the starting lineup, LeBron has looked more like the 2009 and 2010 MVP-winning LeBron James who seems capable of being a true leader on the court—even on a team with fellow superstars on the roster.  Ultimately, it doesn't matter who is the "main guy" for the Heat, but LeBron is proving that he is capable of being that guy if the Miami Heat need him to be.

LeBron, this year, appears willing to fit into whatever role the Heat need him to fit in, and that is what makes him the most valuable player on the Heat's roster.

Okay, back to the Heat's win over the Nets.  

Aside from LeBron's dominant performance, an interesting observation from the game is that the Heat have yet to lose a game on the road.  So far in the 2011-12 NBA season, the Heat have beat the Mavericks, Bobcats, Timberwolves, Hawks, and Nets on the road.  And while those teams are a combined 16-24 overall, remaining undefeated on the road is never a bad thing.

There is no denying that the Heat are a better road team this year, especially when you consider the Heat went 2-3 in their first five road games last season.  That is something that will benefit them down the road in the 2011-12 season.

It will be interesting to see how the Heat fare in their upcoming road games against the Warriors, Clippers and Nuggets.  If the Heat can manage to win two out of those three games, it will solidify them as one of the NBA's best road teams, which is something the Heat absolutely were not last season.

The New Jersey Nets could have very well caught the Miami Heat overlooking them, looking towards their upcoming games against the Clippers and the Nuggets, but the Heat proved that they are focused on taking the season one game at a time. 

The Heat played against the Nets with a sense of urgency, and doing that without the third member of the "big three" is an impressive feat no matter who they are up against.  

Next up for the Heat are the Golden State Warriors.  Expect a close game, ultimately ending with yet another Heat road win.