Miami
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
With two straight losses this weekend to Memphis 97-81and Detroit80-72, is Miami suddenly looking a lot more vulnerable as Shaq recuperates from his stomach virus? Or is this simply the calm before the Heat storm continues through the playoffs in an inexorable march towards the championship? The silver lining to this weekend's cloud is the dominant play of Alonzo Mourning.
In the loss to Detroit, Mourning had more of a Ben Wallace game than Ben Wallace himself. The entire Detroit team combined for a total of ZERO blocks. Mourning singlehandedly had five. Furthermore, he outrebounded Mourning 14 to 12. Though Wallace scored two more points to get 12 as compared to Mourning's 10, it took him two more field goals and three more minutes to do it.
Zo simply had a sensational game. With Shaq out and Dwyane Wade fouling out after 21 minutes, perhaps his most impressive stat is that he only got two fouls called against him. Plus, he earned nearly half his points at the line, meaning he was doing damage to the opposing foul count as well.
Meanwhile, Udonis Haslem was the third player to record a double-double in the game (the others of course were Wallace and Mourning). Haslem often quietly gets himself a double-double and this was no exception as he combined for 13 points and 11 rebounds.
To put Mourning's game into perspective, he was just five assists and four steals shy of an amazing feat known as the five-by-five. Has Wade not fouled out or had Damon Jones hit more than one of his eight three point attempts, Mourning could have conceivably reached the five assists mark. And if he had played all 48 minutes and maybe some overtime, he could have conceivably gotten three or four more steals.
There's no vulnerability here. This is the Heat's backup center and he would be a starter on any other team.
We're talking DEEP into the playoffs here. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but it's time to start measuring ring sizes.
And that's despite an 0-2 weekend.
NEXT GAME
The Heat (56-21, first in the Southeast) are off until Thursday when they travel to Philadelphia to take on the surging 76ers (39-37, second in the Atlantic). 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 and the Eastern Conference title. Congratulations Miami!
This was the Heat's first home loss since January 21.
Do you think you know everything about the Heat? Would you consider yourself an expert on everything from Keith Askins to Wang Zhi-Zhi? What about Burnie, the HEAT Dancers or the Xtreme Team? What do you know about this season, Shaq, Dwyane or Udonis? If you’re a know it all, then prove it. Enter the Heat Trivia Engine Contestand compete with other fans for fame and prizes! You can win autographed memorabilia from this year's amazing run!
INJURY UPDATE
Christian Laettner(foot),Rasual Butler(knee), andDorell Wright(knee) are on the injured list.Shaquille O'Neal(virus) is still recovering.
Ira Winderman ofThe South Florida Sun-Sentinelwrites: News flash: Without Shaquille O'Neal, the Heat won't go anywhere against the Pistons in the NBA playoffs. Sunday's reality: With O'Neal absent, this 80-72 loss to Detroit foreshadowed nothing. "There is not really anything you can take out of this game," Pistons coach Larry Brown admitted.
Karen Crouse ofThe Palm Beach Postwrites: Alonzo Mourning swiped his clothes off the hook in his cubicle Sunday afternoon as deftly as he had basketballs off the glass in the Heat's 80-72 defeat to the Detroit Pistons. Then, striding as casually as a man can when he has ice bags strapped around both knees and his right ankle, Shaquille O'Neal's understudy disappeared into a players' lounge adjoining the Heat locker room. Minutes later Mourning reemerged, looking resplendent in a beige suit. He wiped his glistening brows, glanced at the cameramen who were encroaching on his personal space and sighed. "This is why I miss the Big Fella," Mourning said. "I don't miss this at all."
Dave Joseph ofThe South Florida Sun-Sentinelwrites: This is the 2005 version of Mourning at this very moment.He's a collision of so many good things and so many bad. One minute he's swatting shots and clutching rebounds. The next he can't put his paws around a pass. One minute he's playing the game "like a warrior," according to Heat coach Stan Van Gundy. The next he can't lift the ball into the basket. Mourning was all things during the Heat's 80-72 loss to the Pistons. Starting for the first time since Dec. 7, Mourning recorded 14 rebounds (seven defensively) and five blocked shots (three coming in the fourth quarter). And despite playing 37 minutes -- the most since Nov. 10 when he was in New Jersey -- Mourning seemed to come alive in the fourth quarter.