The win wasn't enough. The Miami Heat wanted, and found, more.
With the game in hand and the Spurs clearly defeated, Miami reconnected with perhaps its most important self-identification: that of the villain.
They did it by leaving the Big Three in the game even with a 17-point lead and six minutes remaining. They did it by remembering a 30-point humiliation 10 days ago. They did it by stretching that 17-point lead to 28 before Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James finally sat with less than three minutes to play.
When it was over, and the sweet feel of not just redemption but also retribution had settled over AmericanAirlines Arena, the Miami Heat had whipped the San Antonio Spurs 110-80 on Monday night.
Thirty points is the exact margin the league's best team beat them by 10 days ago. It was beat down for beat down, Old Testament style.
"Much different obviously than what we showed in San Antonio," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said dryly.
Yes, very different, from the level of play to the renewed swagger Miami hauled onto the floor.
Very different, because Miami came out mean, focused, hungry and confident. This wasn't just a win. It was payback. Fire up some James Brown, because this one was big.
"It's huge for us, really just getting even with this team," Bosh said afterward. "They beat us pretty good, and I'm happy that we were able to respond by playing a complete game tonight."
Complete in more ways than just basketball. Finally, again, the Heat got back in touch with their inner villain, the very trait LeBron James said he had embraced during the halcyon days of late December and early January.
Good. Embrace it. Be the bad guys. Wear that chip on your shoulder proudly.
Because so far this season, Miami has been as confounding a team as it is a polarizing one. The Heat have fluctuated between greatness and great turmoil. And it's been in the face of anger – Cleveland, Toronto, post-CryGate – that Miami has found its highest levels.
It's also true those moments of greatness have come after some very, very poor patches.
One stretch, they're a mess. The next, they're unbeatable. The next, they're crying. Then, they're walking up to the bully who just embarrassed them and flinging them to the concrete.
This time, the Heat flung the Spurs to the concrete. They did it through Bosh continuing his torrid play after announcing it was time for him to step up. He did so Monday with 30 points and 12 rebounds while again displaying a level of confidence not seen enough from him this season.
Perhaps now, after Wade prodded him Jordan-style to rise up and make good on his talent, Bosh can be more hard case than headache.
Speaking of Wade, he added 29 points and nine rebounds and played with ferociousness on defense. LeBron had a quiet 21 points but added eight assists and six rebounds that speak to his continued growth as a facilitator and leader – giving the Heat what they need when they need it.
Even his lack of 3-point shooting spoke to his poignant placement of winning over rapid-fire shots and a tendency to try to do too much. Call it trust, call it restraint, call it not needing to fill a void because the void had been filled by other teammates who finally have showed up. Whatever it was, it worked and LeBron knew it.
"To have 24 assists to 11 turnovers, that's a good ratio," he said. "Out of the three of us, we went 22 for 22 from the free-throw line and only took two 3s. We were in attack mode."
They were also in villain mode. They wanted to punish the Spurs, to embarrass them, and this might be the key to the Heat unlocking their potential not just sometimes but often enough to make real noise come the postseason. Because as real as this three-game win streak is, so is this: Miami is as capable of being great as it is, when faced with adversity, being awful.
The playoffs will not afford them the luxury of taking five games to figure things out. But play like this – and most important, I say, play with anger, togetherness and a happy embracing of their villainy – and such a stretch might not occur.
"We knew eventually we were going to learn from those moments," Wade said. "Even when we get in these games, we keep those in back of our minds. Even the stuff that's said, we keep that in the back of our minds."
That's great news for Heat fans.
Because the difference between this Heat team and the one that a week ago was in tears and on the verge of dissolving might be as simple as doing what LeBron suggested two months ago.
Be the villain, bask in the hatred, let the anger power the future. Until the offseason, don't think of anything other than showing that face to the world Wade so strongly believes celebrates their struggles.
Start with punishing Oklahoma City on Wednesday for having the temerity of tagging Bosh a fake tough guy, of having the misfortune of coming into the Heat's home turf, of having the bad luck of meeting a team finally in touch with its inner bad guy.
الرئيسية 
موضوع: Heat summon their inner villains, gain vengeance on Spurs 
الثلاثاء مارس 15, 2011 2:34 am
