November 7
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra appreciates the passion when it comes to forward Michael Beasley. He also appreciates the significance of winning. So amid outcry that he feature the 2008 lottery pick more often, Spoelstra said he takes no umbrage. "I don't have a problem with it, either," he said before Friday's 96-88 victory over the Denver Nuggets at AmericanAirlines Arena. "I like the interest that people have in him right now, because they see the potentially that we see every day. "To me, when I look at the big picture of this, this is part of a young player's development. And, ultimately, it's about winning games. But we're developing guys at the same time." Spoelstra said it is ..."
November 7
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Apparently, Friday nights are about erasing the past. A week ago, the Miami Heat snapped a 17-game losing streak in Indiana with a victory at Conseco Fieldhouse. Friday night, the Heat snapped its eight-game losing streak to the Denver Nuggets with a 96-88 victory over Denver at AmericanAirlines Arena. The common theme to the streak busting? A balanced approach. "That's what we've been trying for," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We feel like we're developing balance, and it's been different guys each game, at times. Guys were very unselfish. There wasn't a lot of one-on-one." No, this was not an encore of Dwyane Wade's 40-point binge Wednesday in Washington. This was the Heat's star guard ..."
November 5
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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After reviewing video Wednesday, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra downplayed his team's struggles against the Phoenix Suns' zone defense in Tuesday's home loss. "I don't want to overstate it, because some of the looks, as I re-watched the film this morning, we had six layup opportunities where even if we drill it endless amount of times, those are really the opportunities you want to get," he said before Wednesday's 93-89 victory over the Washington Wizards at Verizon Center. Spoelstra, in fact, said Phoenix's approach was somewhat flattering, even if Tuesday's result wasn't. "It's a different rhythm," he said. "We had been playing so well versus the man-to-man, and really it's the first ..."
November 5
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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There was a point early in Wednesday's fourth quarter, when Dwyane Wade normally goes to the bench, that he locked eyes with Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. "He pretty much nodded his head," Spoelstra said. The message was understood. Wade would play to the finish, play all 24 minutes of the second half on the second night of a back-to-back set that began with Tuesday's track meet against the Phoenix Suns. "This," Wade said after scoring 40 points in the 93-89 victory over the Washington Wizards, "is one of those games where you have to will your team to victory." And where there is a will and a Wade, there is a way. So even after the Heat blew all of a 19-point first-quarter lead, on a ..."
November 4
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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For more than a month, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has extolled the virtues of his team's depth. Tuesday night, it proved to be blind faith. Opening the final period with a lineup that might even be questioned in the preseason, the Heat eventually frittered away what remained of a 13-point lead in what turned into a 104-96 loss to the Phoenix Suns at AmericanAirlines Arena. "It was a little bit of different lineup," Spoelstra said, "but I don't think that was the change." Instead of matching the franchise record with a 4-0 start to the season, the Heat fell victim to the guile of point guard Steve Nash, who sparked Phoenix's comeback and moved the Suns to 4-0. While Heat guard Dwyane ..."
November 3
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Dwyane Wade, Jermaine O'Neal and Daequan Cook all missed Monday's practice as the Miami Heat prepared for Tuesday night's lone visit of the season by Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns. Wade did not even make it to the session, instead tied up in a courtroom in a matter related to a failed business interest. O'Neal watched from the side, a day after breaking his nose late in Sunday's 95-87 victory over the Bulls. And Cook was held out with the same shoulder ailment that forced him to skip the Chicago game. In addition, guard Chris Quinn, who had been out since the start of training camp with a sprained ankle, went through the entire session and has been deemed healthy enough to return. The ..."
November 2
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Daequan Cook slept on his decision about whether to play through his strained right shoulder. That was his first mistake. "I sleep kind of wild," he said. So two days after attempting to play through the ailment and shooting 1 of 9 in Indiana, the third-year Miami Heat guard sat out Sunday's 95-87 victory over the Chicago Bulls. "When you sleep, you can't really control how you sleep," he said of waking up in pain consecutive mornings. "We've got a back-to-back coming up, so hopefully I'll look forward to playing in that." Cook was injured during a Thursday training session and said he probably made a mistake playing against the Pacers. "Yeah, somewhat," he said. Coach Erik Spoelstra said ..."
November 2
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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The Miami Heat stepped up in competition Sunday. And it didn't back down. After cruising past New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers teams that resembled D-League outfits, the Heat aggressively contested a prime rival in a spirited 95-87 victory over the Chicago Bulls at AmericanAirlines Arena. "I just saw bodies colliding," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It was like a gang fight the last three minutes of the game." In a matchup more of heart and hustle than speed and skill, the Heat turned to its grittiest competitor and power forward Udonis Haslem obliged by lifting it to only the third 3-0 start in the franchise's 22 seasons. "Udonis was incredible on both ends of the floor," Spoelstra ..."
November 1
Miami Herald
columnist Linda Robertson
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If you see Dwyane Wade on the street, give him a hug. If you see him in a restaurant, pick up his tab. If you own a yacht, take him fishing -- and make sure he catches a big one. If you own an island, invite him over for a luau. Send greeting cards with gushing good-luck messages. Compliment his clothes. Donate to his charitable foundation. Offer to wash his car(s). Cheer extra loudly at Heat games, such as the season opener Wednesday against the New York Knicks. This is the Year of Loving Dwyane. We have to keep him happy in Miami or he will leave, and so will any hope of another NBA championship. We have to make him feel appreciated or when he opts out of the final year of his contract ..."
November 1
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Erik Spoelstra's argument was mostly halfhearted, as he challenged the second-quarter technical foul Jermaine O'Neal was assessed for following a dunk with a chin-up on the rim. In fact, it could be argued that the second-year Miami Heat coach savored the moment in Friday night's victory in Indiana almost as much as the 14th-year center did. "If he's jumping that high," Spoelstra said, "I'll take anything." To say O'Neal has shown a spring in his step in the Heat's 2-0 start would be understatement. His consecutive games of 22 points and 12 rebounds represent the first time in the franchise's 22 seasons a player has opened with back-to-back 20-10 performances. For a player who averaged 13 ..."
November 1
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
columnist Ira Winderman
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No, 2010 free agency is not a single event. It is a journey. Sunday, the tour returns to AmericanAirlines Arena, this time with the Chicago Bulls looking to size up the playing field. Last Wednesday, it was the New York Knicks who did their window shopping. Like the Knicks, the Bulls also should be in position to add a max-salary free agent next summer. And while Heat guard Dwyane Wade won't submit to a physical for his hometown team before Sunday's tipoff, Chicago is going as far as traveling General Manager Gar Foreman to many road games, with a focus on next summer's free agency. If the whole thing seems a bit awkward, well, it is. "Everybody," Knicks forward David Lee said during last ..."
October 31
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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The constants with Daequan Cook are a big heart, a big smile and a big bag of candy nearby. Another constant with the third-year Miami Heat guard is ongoing concerns with his shoulders. Nagged by such problems over the past two seasons, Cook had another incident Thursday during a training mishap at AmericanAirlines Arena, resulting in a strained right shoulder. Despite sitting out Friday morning's shootaround at Conseco Fieldhouse, the emerging sixth-man played 17 minutes in Friday night's 96-83 victory over the Indiana Pacers. "It's the one that's been giving him some problems this summer," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He's had some minor injuries with both shoulders for the last year, and ..."
October 31
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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It wasn't exactly the Indy 500. But the Miami Heat's 17 consecutive losses at Conseco Fieldhouse certainly felt like triple-digit misery. Now? Now there is a one-game winning streak in Indiana, with Friday's 96-83 victory over the Indiana Pacers. "It was gratifying," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "To have this feeling here hasn't happened very often for us." After 14 consecutive regular-season losses in Conseco, with three more in the playoffs, the Heat finds itself with its first 2-0 start to a season since it went 4-0 to open 2004-05. Both victim and former victimizer contributed for the Heat. Guard Dwyane Wade, who had lost all 11 of his previous Conseco visits, led the Heat with 32 ..."
October 30
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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If not now, then when? If not after coming off a 22-point season-opening win with virtually everyone in the rotation contributing, then when? If not against a team that looked miserable in its own season opener, then when? The last time the Miami Heat won a game at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Rod Strickland was starting at point guard, Jim Jackson at small forward and Vladimir Stepania was coming off the bench. That was on Dec. 31, 2001. Since then, the Heat has lost 14 in a row in Indiana, 17 in a row when counting the postseason. "It's a hurdle we've got to get over one day," said guard Dwyane Wade, with the Heat's first road stop of the season coming Friday night at Conseco. ..."
October 29
Miami Herald
columnist Israel Hutierrez
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Tim Hardaway's career wasn't defined here, but it was completed here. His signature move wasn't developed here, but it was shown off a few times here. His courage wasn't discovered here, but he was at his most courageous here. The legacy of Tim Hardaway was a cross-country creation that started on the South Side of Chicago, continued south in Texas, moved west to California and settled here in Miami. This wasn't Hardaway's last stop, just his most significant. So it's here that the legacy was fortunate enough to be celebrated with Wednesday's jersey retirement ceremony. Fortunate because Hardaway is simply one of the most unique, special players in the history of basketball. There aren't ..."
October 29
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
columnist Dave Hyde
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Everyone knows the hardest part of following the Heat this season: It's pretty much pointless. Well, OK, it's not pointless. But next summer means more. Next summer's free agency shopping spree means everything. The Heat's cast hasn't changed much from last season, it's not good enough to catch the top three teams in the East and so it's pointless to get too wrapped up in a season that comes with such a hard ceiling. But Opening Night's 115-93 win against New York brought the other side of the discussion. It showed what you can watch this year. It showed how you can make some peace with the next six months of basketball. Opening night brought the young games on display -- Michael Beasley, ..."
October 29
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Last year, it took a 42.3 scoring average by Dwyane Wade for the Miami Heat to salvage a 2-1 record against the New York Knicks. So New York put its focus on one target in Wednesday night's season opener at AmericanAirlines Arena. That target shot 10 of 22. The rest of the Heat shot 37 of 61, in a wonderful ensemble performance that produced a 115-93 victory. To say the Knicks had little fear of Wade's supporting cast might have been understatement. "Just let him get 100," forward Al Harrington said before the game, "and everybody else gets nothing and we get 108." Shooting 37.9 percent from the field and 10 of 39 on 3-pointers against an aggressive Heat defense, the Knicks did not come ..."
October 29
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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In typical Tim Hardaway fashion, he was cool under pressure while watching his No. 10 Heat jersey being raised to the rafters before the season opener Wednesday night at American Airlines Arena. "When you first see your name going up, I almost lost it," said Hardaway, 42, who came over in a trade from the Warriors in the 1995-96 season and played in Miami through the 2000-01 season. "They almost had me but I'm from the south side of Chicago. I'm still jittery, still nervous, but it was great. "They understand that you were one of the focal points of the organization. That's above and beyond a championship ring. After that, is the Hall of Fame." And how fitting that the opponent was the ..."