Suns at Heat Game Thread

[FArting]

The Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat have very different styles of play, but one thing they have in common is undefeated records.

They won't have that in common anymore after Tuesday night.

The Suns and Heat both try to avoid their first loss when they meet at American Airlines Arena.

Phoenix and Miami are both off to 3-0 starts, but they've gotten there in contrasting fashion. While the Suns are relying on a high-scoring offense, the Heat have been using defense to shut down the opposition.

Miami will try to contain the Suns after holding its last two opponents below 90 points, including a 95-87 home win over Chicago on Sunday.

Miami has held its first three opponents to 38.6 percent shooting, including 21.6 from 3-point range. The Heat have yet to be outrebounded.

Dwayne Wade scored 25 points Sunday, surpassing 10,000 for his career in the third quarter. The Heat limited the Bulls to 17 points in the fourth.

The only bad news from the otherwise solid victory was that Jermaine O'Neal broke his nose late in the fourth quarter. The oft-injured center doesn't expect to miss any playing time, though, and said he won't wear a protective mask.

Against the potent Suns, Miami may need its offense to score more than the 95.5 points it has averaged in the last two games.

Phoenix will be looking to force Miami to play up-tempo -- a strategy that has paid off against other opponents. The Suns have given up 100 points in each of their first three games, but they are averaging 117.3 of their own and have reached 120 in their last two games.

Much of Phoenix's success has come from beyond the arc. The Suns are shooting 52.4 percent (33 of 63) from 3-point range for the season and are coming off a 120-112 victory over Minnesota on Sunday in which they connected on a season-high 14 3-pointers. Channing Frye hit six for a second straight game.

Steve Nash had another solid effort with 25 points and 14 assists. He had another scorer on the court with the return of Jason Richardson, who finished with 23 points in his first game following a two-game suspension for a drunk-driving conviction.

"I was definitely excited to get back on the floor," said Richardson, who shot 4 of 7 from 3-point range. "I feel I'm now a better person and a better player."

Richardson will be looking to help the Suns get their five-game road trip against Eastern Conference teams off to a good start. Phoenix will also visit undefeated Orlando and Boston, as well as Washington and Philadelphia. The Suns are looking for their first 4-0 start since 2004-05.

"It's great to start 3-0, it's important for us to do it while at home," coach Alvin Gentry said. "We have a huge, huge test coming up. We have five tough road games. But if we go 5-0 on the road, I'm not going to think we're great. And if we go 0-5, I'm not going to think the season's over."

The Heat swept last season's two-game series with the Suns, including a 135-129 victory in Miami led by 35 points from Wade, who is averaging 36.3 in his last three games against Phoenix.

http://espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=291103014

 

[TJ]

Let's show the NBA that the 3-0 is no joke!

GO SUNS

 

[Bada0Bing]

Miami has held its first three opponents to 38.6 percent shooting, including 21.6 from 3-point range. The Heat have yet to be outrebounded.

I didn't watch Miami's games, but you could look at this stat and say they've met some cold shooting teams. 21% is pretty bad against any team, regardless of how good the defense is.

 

[jbeecham]

The Suns & Heat have both played only bad opponents so far... so neither 3-0 record is a good indicator of how good of a team they are. Miami isn't huge up front, but they have decent rebounders in Jermaine O'Neal, Haslem & Beasley... they have no real depth beyond those 3 in the front court and no real center.

It actually looks like Miami plays a small lineup:

PG: Mario Chalmers
SG: Dwayne Wade
SF: Quentin Richardson
PF: Michael Beasley
C: Jermaine O'Neal

Main Bench - Udonis Haslem, Deaquan Cook, Carlos Arroyo

On paper, this is a team we should beat if we shoot the ball well.... or even just average (45%).

 

[Ronin]

4-0!

 

[TJ]

Jermaine O'Neal is playing with a broken nose and refuses to wear a mask. Wonder if his focus will be on protecting his nose from contact as opposed to defense. If I were Amare and Frye, id go right at him early.

 

[dodie53]

go suns!

 

[mojorizen7]

MY Direct tv is down, can anyone provide a video link maybe?
ATDHE link isn't working.

 

[cly2tw]

So far, we are good. Amare got lost by Heats' screens and Beasley got free too easily a couple of times. On offense, we are not hitting the long shots yet but attacked basket nicely.

 

[cly2tw]

MY Direct tv is down, can anyone provide a video link maybe?
ATDHE link isn't working.

atdhe works for me

 

[cly2tw]

Was that 3rd TO in a row for Nash!

 

[mojorizen7]

atdhe works for me

Yeah it just started up for me, thx.
Bad feed, choppy oh well.

 

[carey]

Is it me or has Q lost a ton of weight? This is the slimmest I've ever seen him. I wonder if it's helping his knees & back.

 

[cly2tw]

And what was Nash doing on defense in that play? Trying for steal that led to 2 on 1 under basket for JO's slam on Amare!

 

[cly2tw]

Amare and Hill were holding us in the 1st. Frye and JRich played well too. Nash in his rush to force speed had 3 TOs in a row that hurt us badly.

 

[AfroSuns]

Is it me or has Q lost a ton of weight? This is the slimmest I've ever seen him. I wonder if it's helping his knees & back.

Yeah, they did say he lost a lot of weight, something like 25lbs. he does look really different

 

[AfroSuns]

Dragic not doing bad, maybe Nash should sit some because of tomorrow.

 

[cly2tw]

If Nash could protect the ball as well and patient as Dragic did out there, we'd win this game!

We were killed by Beasley and Nash so far~~

 

[TJ]

Miami is dictating the way this game is going. Low scoring, contesting shots and being aggressive on the boards.

 

[TJ]

15-1 run for Miami

 

[cly2tw]

We got fastbreaked to death after our forced or rushed shots.

 

[mojorizen7]

HEAT shooting 47%
Good lord.

 

[O]

Miami is dictating the way this game is going. Low scoring, contesting shots and being aggressive on the boards.

The under on this and all the eastern games is the way to go, IMHO.

 

[mojorizen7]

Miami being a smaller team has allowed the suns to hang in on the glass but the difference in the first half is shooting and miami playing better D.
Getting 2 points out of JRich isn't going to get it done,especially w/Barbs out.

 

[Covert Rain]

We knew this would happen against good defensive teams. They force us to try and score inside. We have no post game so if the shots don't fall we are in trouble. If it wasn't for a couple of runs we went on with hot shooting we would be down by 20.

I am just glad to still be in this game.