[Newark, NJ] After beating the Charlotte Bobcats of Friday (see re-cap below) and clinching the Southeast Division title against the New York Knicks on Sunday 93-85, the visiting Miami Heat wanted to extend their winning streak to three against the New Jersey Nets.

The Heat sent a message in the potential playoff preview – just because the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony scored 42 points against them on Sunday, the boys from South Florida can still play great defense and offense in the clutch.

And Miami did it without Dwyane Wade, who did not play on Monday night (Terrel Harris started for Wade).

The Heat were struggling early in this one. The Nets’ Kris Humphries dominated the first quarter, scoring 14 points. For Miami, LeBron James scored 8 points and dished out 6 assists. At the end of one, the Nets were up 34-29.

Chris Bosh and the Heat turned it up a notch or two in the second. Bosh scored 8 points and had 5 rebounds, but the Nets continued to battle. New Jersey’s Sundiata Gaines scored 6 points and contributed with a couple key assists. At halftime, the Nets were up 55-52.

Humphries and Gerald Green kept at it for New Jersey in the third. Humphries scored half-a-dozen while Green poured in 11. The Heat couldn’t pull-off the expected comeback, as they were outscored by New Jersey 24-18. At the end of three, the Nets were up 79-70.

Copyright 2012 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

Miami Heat star LeBron James got home crowd treatment in New Jersey

LeBron went off in the fourth. In fact, King James held court for the final 6 minutes, erasing an 8-point lead that NJ held for most of the fourth quarter. James scored all 15 points during the Heat’s 15-9 run to end the game. It was epic.

In the final minutes, the New Jersey crowd was chanting “Lets Go Heat.” Amazingly, the Heat took their first lead on a LeBron jumper with only 13 seconds left. Then on the next possession for New Jersey, DeShawn Stevenson turned the ball over.

That led to LeBron making (!) a pair of free throws to seal the game. It probably helped that all you heard were “MVP” chants from the New Jersey crowd. The final score was Heat 100, Nets 99.

LeBron James was spectacular, scoring 37 points, handing out 7 assists and grabbing 6 rebounds. Chris Bosh also came up big, scoring 22 points and chalking up 15 rebounds.

“This is as big as he’s been for us in two years,” Miami Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I love the look he’s playing with right now.”

The Miami Heat are now 43-17 on the season. They play the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.

Copyright 2012 NBAE (photo: Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images)

The Miami Heat clenched their division with a win over the Knicks on Sunday

On Sunday, the Miami Heat beat the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York, 93-85. Spoelstra wasn’t that impressed.

“I don’t think it means anything for the postseason,” Spoelstra said. “What it means is something about us and how we’ve been playing on the road as of late. We want to do a better job of it and the only way out is to get up, show up and collectively do better.”

Copyright 2012 NBAE (Photo: Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images)

Carmelo versus LeBron was a key match-up

And now bonus coverage of Friday’s game against the Charlotte Bobcats who offered little resistance …

After coming off that painful loss against the Chicago Bulls, the Heat traveled back home to face the NBA’s worst team, the Charlotte Bobcats. Both Dwyane Wade and Mike Miller sat out due to injuries.

“They’re both a little bit sore coming off last night,” Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s too quick of a turnaround for them.”

Udonis Haslem also sat out due to an illness.

The Heat came out on fire against the Bobcats in the first quarter and never really looked back. They ended the quarter strong, going on a 14-4 run to put them up 33-19. Chris Bosh scored 10 points in the quarter.

In the second quarter, the bench for Miami combined to score 19 points and played great defense against the Bobcats’ starters. By halftime, the Heat were up 58-39.

The Bobcats played the Heat evenly in the third, but they had already dug themselves too big of a hole. At the end of the third quarter, the Heat were up 81-59.

The Miami bench was brought in to finish this one off and they did not disappoint. Dexter Pittman was a highlight, scoring 10 points and ending the game with a career high of 16. The final score was Heat 105, Bobcats 82.

“We need to play well,” LeBron James said. “We want to play better than we have on the road.”

By: Michael Tristani II/Sunshine Slate

Lead image: Copyright 2012 NBAE (photo: Chris Chambers/NBAE/Getty Images)

Miami Heat

[Oakland, CA] Even with all of the trade-induced drama surrounding the team, the Orlando Magic are one of the best teams in the NBA. Shhh, don’t tell anybody.

Even though the Magic sit atop the Southeast Division with an 8-3 record, the basketball pundits will never say that Orlando is in the top four or five teams. Why? Well, there are several reasons.

First, Orlando has yet to beat a truly great team other than the Portland Trail Blazers. After victories over Miami, Chicago and/or Oklahoma City, then you will start to hear the TV doggies bark.

Second, Dwight Howard‘s impending trade keeps everybody from saying anything positive about the team because they are an unknown quantity down the stretch. Whatever can be said now won’t mean much after the big fella is traded. Or he could stay, who knows (Jermaine Dupri certainly doesn’t).

No matter, the Orlando Magic broke hearts and set records last night at Golden State. The Warriors went down 117-109 in a high scoring affair that saw the Magic’s superstar center make history (the good kind). And it was at the foul line, no less.

Howard made made 39 trips to the free-throw line, setting an NBA record for charity attempts in a single game. D-12 only managed to turn 21 of those into points, however.

Photo: Orlando Magic

Jason Richardson sprained his left knee

“I just tried to be aggressive and get to the line,” said Howard. “I didn’t care if I missed 30. I was still going to go up there and shoot the next one with confidence.”

The free-throws helped Howard to a monster game – and the first 40-20 game of his career – as he poured in 45 points, grabbed 23 rebounds, had four steals, made three assists and notched two blocks.

Yes, he missed 18 free throws which, if he was a 90%+ shooter, would have netted him another 15 or so points which would have put him at 60 or more points on the night. That’s the stuff of legend. But he missed them, so it is an almost-legend.

“It is amazing,” joked Magic guard J.J. Redick. “It’s amazing that he made 21.”

Warriors head coach Mark Jackson employed the hack-a-Howard due to key injuries on his team as well as Howard’s dismal free-throw shooting percentage (42.6% on the season, ouch).

“He’s a great player. And he’s a bad free throw shooter,” offered Jackson post-game. “Giving ourselves the best chance possible, we tried to mess up their rhythm, take their 3-point shooters out of it, which we did. They made plays.”

As for the Golden State, Monta Ellis made his share of plays, scoring 30 and tossing 11 assists while David Lee gave them a 26-point, 12 rebound effort. It was Lee’s sixth consecutive double-double. Keep an eye on that kid.

Injury report: Orlando’s Jason Richardson exited the game at the 8:46 mark in the third after a court collision that resulted in a sprained left knee. He did not return to action.

Next up for the Orlando Magic: they face the New York Knicks on Monday, the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

By: Mark Christopher/Sunshine Slate

Images: Orlando Magic

Orlando Magic