Miami
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
The Heat dropped their fourth road game of the season, falling 104-95to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday as Dwyane Wade's 26 points (sixth in the league in scoring) and Shaquille O'Neal's 10 rebounds (fourth in the league in rebounding) were not enough to overcome Carmelo Anthony's 28 point outburst. The Heat had 31 fouls to the Nuggets' 19, leading Denver to shoot and make seven more free throws, without which the margin of victory would have been a single field goal.
Head coach Stan Van Gundy said he's been disgusted with the lack of consistency and professionalism that he would have expected from this club, threatening personnel changes then admitting there's nothing to do about the personnel since the problem is everybody but a couple of guys. He says he's tired of begging people to put forth an effort and he says the Heat ought to be much better than the breakeven 7-7 record they hold since starting off 4-0.
Not exactly the sort of thing you expect to hear from the head coach of one of the top contenders for the title. Yet here the Heat are, in the middle of a road trip, having already slipped to third in what many observers thought would be one of the weakest divisions in the league.
Don't be surprised if the Heat pull off a trick or two to get some different players in before the trade deadline. Their window of opportunity is getting up there in years and once Shaq retires, it's back to the drawing board.
NEXT GAME
The Heat (11-7, third in the Southeast) are smack-dab in the middle of a four-game road trip which continues TONIGHT at Utah against the Jazz (8-9, fifth in the Northwest). The game starts at 9:00pm Eastern. It will be broadcast on the Sunshine Network, KJZZ, and NBA League Pass. Tickets are still available at the Delta Center.
TEAM NOTES
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INJURY UPDATE
Jerome Beasley(back),Malik Allen(back) andDorell Wright(abdomen) are on the Heat's injured list.
Israel Gutierrez ofThe Miami Heraldwrites: As a restricted free agent, Haslem will be allowed to field offers from any team, with the understanding that the Heat can match any offer.However, assuming the rules in next season's new collective bargaining agreement remain the same in this area, the Heat could only re-sign Haslem for as much as the mid-level exception. That means another team with the proper salary-cap space could offer Haslem more than Miami is able to match, putting him in a situation similar to those of Carlos Boozer and Okur last offseason. Both of them went on to sign with the Jazz, which the Heat plays tonight.
Ira Winderman ofThe South Florida Sun-Sentinelwrites: Ah, life with Shaquille O'Neal standing as the center of attention. "I haven't had this many open shots since I was a little tyke playing one-on-one," guard Eddie Jones said.But open shots have been anything but child's play.In fact, the more Heat shooters have stood alone, the more they have seemingly recognized it can be a lonely feeling.
Michael Cunningham ofThe South Florida Sun-Sentinelwrites: Van Gundy angrily ripped into his players in the locker room following the game, in effect questioning their professionalism, and then said much the same to reporters."I am tired of begging people to play hard," Van Gundy said. "I am tired of it being one game and not the next game we play with consistent energy and intensity. It is inexcusable. I would change personnel, but I am not seeing it out of very many people at all. I got maybe two guys that play hard every night, so it is hard to do anything personnel-wise.