Miami
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Once the toast of the town, Alonzo Mourning had been relegated to mop-up garbage time duty since rejoining the Heat at the beginning of March. Yet recently, with Christian Laettner on the injured list and some nagging injuries to Udonis Haslem, he has been able to get some more minutes. Expect those minutes to shrink again as the injured big men get healthy again but also expect to see some more Mourning earlier if foul trouble strikes.
Mourning has clearly still got "it" if by "it" one means a dominant low-post presence on both ends of the court. In 14 minutes on Monday during their two-point loss to the Bobcats, Mourning scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds. That's, again, as a reminder, in just 14 minutes. Double that to a more regular 28, and he's giving you 16 and 10, close to his career averages. It's like he hasn't lost a step.
With Shaquille O'Neal entering the prime part of his season, namely, the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs, he is about to elevate both his minutes and his game. O'Neal has a long history of playing longer and better as the importance of the games increases, from regular season to the playoffs, from first round to second round, from second round to conference finals, and from conference finals to FINALS. He just consistently elevates his game.
What that means for Mourning is he will likely be the backup for one of the other big men in cases of injury or foul trouble if he is to get more than just spot minutes. But given those rare but not impossible when Shaq gets into early foul trouble, that could be the entry bell for Mourning to get some burn.
And won't the opponents be in for a bit of a surprise when they see who's backing up Shaq.
NEXT GAME
The Miami Heat (54-18, first in the Southeast) visit the surprisingly resilient Indiana Pacers (36-34, fourth in the Central) TONIGHT. The game starts at 8:00pm Eastern and will be broadcast on Sun Sports and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
The Heat have clinched the Southeast divisional title. Congratulations Miami!
The Miami Heat offers $10,000.00 in scholarship fundsto high school seniors each year. Scholarship applications are available in December each year and recipients are awarded in April. This is the seventh year that the Miami Heat has offered scholarships.
INJURY UPDATE
Eddie Jones(ankle) is questionable for tonight's game.Christian Laettner(foot),Rasual Butler(knee), andDorell Wright(knee) are on the injured list.
Israel Gutierrez ofThe Miami Heraldwrites: A deep bench, along with a handful of injuries, has allowed Heat coach Stan Van Gundy to explore some different matchup options and involve players like Smith, Alonzo Mourning, Wang Zhi-Zhi and possibly Qyntel Woods now that he has been taken off the injured list.The depth not only makes the Heat a versatile team that can adjust to any style, but it keeps even the final few players on the bench feeling like they're part of the ride, not just watching it pass by from the sideline.
The Miami Heraldpreviews tonight's matchup: The Pacers are clinging to one of the final Eastern Conference playoff spots despite missing more man games to injury and suspension than any team in the league. The Pacers are 2-0 against the Heat this season, the last win coming in overtime with Shaquille O'Neal missing the game with a left knee injury. The Heat has not won in Conseco Fieldhouse since the final day of the 2001 season.
Tom Reed ofThe Mercury Newswrites: Using the convoluted and oft-criticized body mass index (BMI), Traylor is the league's second-most overweight player behind Shaquille O'Neal.Miami Heat fans aren't complaining. Neither should the ones in Cleveland.
Woody Woodburn ofThe Daily Breezewrites: Buss, on the other hand, has gone from genius to dunce almost overnight. Genius: He built two mini-dynasties largely by tearing up superstars' contracts before they expired and giving them richer deals to keep them happy. Dunce: He tore up the three-peat champions by not finding a way to keep Shaquille O'Neal and Coach Phil Jackson happy. Oh, yes, and before that Buss didn't keep General Manager Jerry West happy. That miscue begat Mitch Kupchak as GM, which in turn led to current "GM" Kobe Bryant. At least according to point guard Chucky Atkins. Looking at the Lakers' 33-37 record and the Miami Heat's 54-18 mark, one imagines Buss must wish his new "GM" could trade himself to Miami and get O'Neal back.