The HEAT is on (and other NBA opening week tidbits)

As of this writing, the superstar troika of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh area leading the Miami Heat to a 20-piecing of their inter-state rivals, Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic.

This comes as a surprise since Orlando is coming off another perfect preseason and a dominating win over the hapless Washington Wizards. Not that I expected them to lose to the newly-formed Heat, but definitely not by 20 plus points—not with Howard and co. reportedly being more “focuse” than years past.

Okay, wait, Howard did 10 push-ups by the bench DURING their first game because he missed 10 free throws (as a sort of “self-punishment”)—so maybe they’re still not THAT serious after all.

Back to the Heat, who are well on their way to a 2-1 slate, and how this team has finally gotten some sort of on-court chemistry as far as who is “the man” is on offense, who is the shot-caller (definitely not their point guards) and who are the role players.

In their opening day loss, LeBron James banged in 31 points while everyone else looked lost on the floor. even Wade, who is coming off a hamstring injury, was pretty lethargic and putting up ugly bricks here and there. At times, the offense was either stagnant or predictable, with either James or Wade waiting/ watching each other on who wants to make the first move on offense.

Against the young Philadelphia 76ers, the lines were clearly set. James is the point guard who controls the offense, Wade is the designated scorer. In today’s game, it was pretty much more of the same thing, with James “settling” for a “modest” 15-6-7 line, and Wade doing the damage with 26. It should be noted that Chris Bosh has yet to live up to expectations, looking very soft (softer than the much –maligned Dirk Nowitzki even) and opting to be a bystander on offense. Granted, he attracts double teams every now and then in the paint, but the game is clearly controlled by either James or Wade, with Bosh as a 3^rd option.

So the question now is, is this set-up enough for the Heat to make the Finals?

Not quite. I still believe that either they force James to play PG and bring in Wade and James Jones/ Mike Miller at the same time, or Mario Chalmers learns how to shoot/ gets traded for a PG who can shoot.

Also, there’s a big hole in the paint. Joel Anthony is a workhorse who rebounds the ball like crazy, but he’ll be: 1) over skilled by Bogut/ Duncan/ Gasol/ Kaman, 2) overpowered by Bynum/ Shaq/ Howard or 3) be forced to try and keep up with Garnett/ Stoudemire.

You can throw the dreams of burying the Chicago Bulls’ 72-10 record out, 60-65 is a more realistic tally for this team. Championship? Perhaps, but if the Celtics can avoid any injuries, then I’m going with the old farts in Boston while giving this team another year to work out.

Also,

• Chris Paul has lead the New Orleans to a nice 2-0 slate despite having a so-so supporting cast.
• In other news, Deron Williams is in a slump. Two losses for the Utah Jazz, two bad games with no one to pass the ball to (who can convert).
• Carmelo Anthony is leading the way for the Denver Nuggets, but the biggest surprises are the offense by Arron Afflalo and the rebounding of "The Landlord" Shelden Williams a.k.a. Mr. Candace Parker.
• Andrew Bogut is healthy, 15 points and 15 boards in his first game after that ugly wrist and arm injury from last season.
• Rajon Rondo's 24 assists is flat out awesome. And don't forget that he also scored 10 and grabbed 10 boards too.
• Allen Iverson is going to play in Turkey. *sigh*