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The Sports Network
(Sports Network) - Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh said a few days ago it's
important for this team to make the essential adjustments following a loss.
"If we lose one or two, we need to make the necessary adjustments, get it done
and cut that down," Bosh told the Miami Herald. "That's the next step."
Bosh, his teammates and the coaching staff aired their grievances and offered
suggestions on what they can do to make this team better after blowing a lead
against Milwaukee in Wednesday's 105-97 loss. The meeting of the minds worked
in a big win at Philadelphia Friday night and the Heat look to build off of
that triumph in a Super Bowl matinee this afternoon versus Toronto. The New
England Patriots will face the New York Giants tonight in Super Bowl XLVI.
The Heat are back in south Florida following their two-day sojourn and will
host both the Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers. Winners in nine of their last
11 games, the Heat recorded a 99-79 victory over the pesky 76ers at a packed
Wells Fargo Center and were led by Dwyane Wade's 26 points. LeBron James
turned in another solid performance with 19 points, 12 rebounds and eight
assists for Miami, which used a 27-8 run to start the fourth quarter and
outscored the Sixers by a 32-16 margin in the final stanza.
"The most important thing is that this team improved in 48 hours," Heat head
coach Erik Spoelstra said. "This was a very good team win against a very good
team that has been playing well."
Mario Chalmers and Bosh scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, while
Mike Miller also had 12 points and Norris Cole added 11 in the win. The Heat
shot 51.9 percent and aim for a fifth straight win at home Sunday. They are
10-2 as the host and own a 1 1/2-game lead over Atlanta for the top spot in
the Southeast Division. Miami is 12-3 versus the Eastern Conference this
season and sports a 5-0 mark against Atlantic Division inhabitants. It has won
nine in a row against teams from that division during the regular season.
A win today for the Heat would match their best 24-game start to a season
since an 18-6 ledger in both the 1996-97 and 1998-99 campaigns. Another
victory would also put them a season-high 12 games above the .500 mark. James
is the best candidate to make that happen and is the only player in the NBA to
average at least 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per game. He has
posted at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in 25 straight
games, and only one other player in league history has registered those
numbers in at least that many contests. Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson turned
the trick on three other occasions.
Robertson, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996, had a
26-game streak in the 1962-63 season and two years later accomplished the feat
in a league-best 29 consecutive contests (1964-65). "The Big O" had a 25-gamer
in the 1963-64 season.
Meanwhile, the Raptors have won four of their last seven games since a
grueling eight-game losing streak and will play back-to-back road games
against Miami and Washington. They are just 5-10 away from home this season.
Toronto is coming off of Friday's 106-89 win over the Wizards at Air Canada
Centre, as Leandro Barbosa scored a team-best 19 points and Amir Johnson
posted 18 points and 13 rebounds. Barbosa was able to shake off flu-like
symptoms and missed the team's shootaround.
"It feels good, it was a breakout game for me," Johnson said. "I talked to
coach, he told me just to be patient and just play."
James Johnson netted 13 points and Jose Calderon collected eight and a game-
high 17 assists for the Raptors, who had a lopsided 61-37 advantage in
rebounds and bounced back from a 100-64 loss at Boston on Wednesday. The 61
boards were a franchise record in regulation. Toronto had 65 rebounds in an
overtime game against New York back on March 21, 1999.
Toronto's bench scored a season-high 68 points against Washington. The team
can match their road win total of last season (6) with an improbable triumph
Sunday against the Heat. Raptors center Andrea Bargnani missed his 11th game
of the season with a nagging calf injury. Toronto is 2-9 without Bargnani, who
is out indefinitely and leads the team with 23.5 points in 13 games.
The Raptors lost all four meetings with the Heat last season and are winless
in the previous five contests in this series. Toronto has also lost four
straight and nine of 12 trips to south Florida. Raptors forward DeMar DeRozan
is averaging 16.0 points in seven career games against Miami, while James is
posting 27.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.6 assists in 28 career matchups with
Toronto. Wade is averaging 27.5 ppg in 21 career games in this series.
The Sports Network