Can the Miami Heat Overtake the Atlanta Hawks in the East? Tonight Might Tell

After the last two Miami Heat games, which made this fan’s heart go up and down like a yo-yo; the Heat wasting a career high 50-point effort by Dwyane Wade in a blowout loss to the Orlando Magic, and then two days later beating one of their long-time rivals, the Detroit Pistons on a night Wade set another career high in assists with 16.

What can we expect for the rest of the season? That’s a question a little more time will give us a better grasp on. Breaking in new acquisitions Jermaine O’Neal and Jamario Moon will take a little time.

Both, however, have been just as up and down as the Heat over their first four games. In the blowout loss to the Magic, and the disappointing loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, both of these players seemed to be auditioning for the part of the Invisible Man in some off-Broadway play.

In the wins against the Philadelphia 76ers and the Detroit Pistons though, they both seemed to be showing some promise of possibly being just what the Miami Heat needs in their push for a better playoff seed.

Will O’Neal and Moon be enough though to surpass the Atlanta Hawks and grab the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs? Again, only time will tell, but Miami Heat fans shouldn’t take the first four games as such a great measuring stick.

I truly believe we’ve yet to see the best from either of these players, and I have a feeling we just might see it soon – like tonight.

The Miami Heat face the Hawks tonight on the road in Atlanta, and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see O’Neal put up big numbers.

Atlanta will be starting 2nd-year center Al Horford, whose career high in scoring is merely 27 points against the Chicago Bulls last November, although he has posted a career high in rebounds just this month against the Los Angeles Lakers with 20.

The 13-year veteran center of the Miami Heat, Jermaine O’Neal, on the other hand, has posted a career high of 55 points in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks, and has scored as many as 36 points just two months ago against the Sacramento Kings.

O’Neal also surpasses Horford in the career high rebounding category, having grabbed 21 boards once against the Washington Wizards, even if that was in 2002. However, he grabbed 18 boards against the Miami Heat when he was a member of the Toronto Raptors just this season, so he is still capable of great rebounding efforts.

Horford is certainly an up-and-coming young center, and has the ability to be a very good one, and there’s no doubt the possibility is there that O’Neal could be schooled by him this evening. I just think Jermaine is going to show what a crafty veteran he is tonight, and is going to get the better of Al.

Moon, on the other hand, will have to work hard to surpass the numbers the Atlanta Hawks small forward, Marvin Williams, is likely to put up. Marvin is averaging 13.9 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 1.3 APG and posted a season high 31 points Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets in a 110-109 loss.

Those are pretty impressive numbers coming from a small forward who is the Hawks fourth option behind Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, and Josh Smith.

Considering Jamario is averaging just over half the points Williams is this season, and has yet to score more than 12 points in any of his four games with the Heat, he’ll have to really turn it up to make up for what Williams is almost assuredly going to throw at us.

Of course, Moon, being a very good defender, might just limit Williams in his efforts, so who knows. And he’s likely to be sharing the small forward duties for Miami with Yakhouba Diawara and even Daequan Cook most of the night.

There is even talk that James Jones, who has missed the last three games with an injury to his right hand, might make an appearance at small forward tonight. According to the Miami Herald, Coach Eric Spoelstra has stated that James "shot the lights out" in practice and would play with an elastic brace over his injured hand.

So, what are the keys to the Miami Heat actually going out there tonight and succeeding in beating the Atlanta Hawks?

Whatever happens with O’Neal and Moon, Miami needs to focus hard on playing a good defensive game. The Heat can’t afford another three-point performance from the Hawks like they saw from the Timberwolves, allowing their opponent to shoot 63 percent from downtown.

The Heat’s rookie small forward, Michael Beasley, will need to play a solid game. Their rookie point guard, Mario Chalmers, will need to keep himself on the floor and avoid foul trouble, and their power forward, Udonis Haslem, will need to give them his usual ferocious effort.

Along with that, the Heat will need to make a solid effort on the boards, will have to limit their turnovers, and will need solid contributions from bench players such as Daequan Cook, Yakhouba Diawara, Joel Anthony, Jamaal Magloire, and Chris Quinn.

These are all fundamental things that need to be done in any game, but the Heat have shown a tendency in their previous 10 games or so to forget these basics at times.

Something that might work in Miami’s favor will be the possible absence of Atlanta starters Mike Bibby and Josh Smith from the lineup. Both players have missed recent games; Bibby because of the flu, and Smith for personal reasons. Atlanta's backup point guard, Flip Murray has had decent games recently though.

If either or both are out of the rotation against the Heat tonight Miami will be breathing a sigh of relief. For while the Hawks only have a game and a half lead on the Heat in the standings, they are one of the best teams in the league at home this season, posting a 19-6 record at Philips Arena, which is fourth best in the Eastern Conference behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Orlando Magic.

One thing the Miami Heat can count on, no matter what else happens in the game, is that Dwyane Wade will almost certainly give Heat fans their money’s worth. Sporting his new trademark ‘Band-Aid’ (which has rapidly become a fashion statement across the country) Wade will hopefully post another career night (although hopefully in a win).

If the Heat are able to prevail tonight, and win against the Hawks, they would climb to within a half-game of Atlanta in the standings, and would go a long way in giving the Miami Heat players the confidence needed down the stretch to overtake Atlanta for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Here’s hoping they’re able to do so.

Of Note: The Atlanta Hawks are currently 32-25, while the Miami Heat are 30-26.