Miami Heat: How Defense Will Carry Them to a Championship

October 30th, 2010 by Justin Eisenband Leave a reply »
On Friday night against the Orlando Magic, it wasn't the LeBron James show. It wasn't the Chris Bosh show. Maybe slightly it was the Dwyane Wade show.

The real demonstration was made by the Miami Heat defense, which held Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic to just 70 points. Yes, this is the same Orlando Magic team that scored 112 points the night before against the Washington Wizards and was sixth in the NBA last season in points per game with nearly 103 points each game.

Sure, partly to blame is Dwight Howard's foul trouble which rendered him useless in the second half. However, Miami's ability to close out on three point shooters held the Magic, one of the NBA's best three point shooting teams, to just 16.7 percent from downtown. Overall, Orlando was only able to hit four total shots from beyond the arc.

The Magic scored only 25 points in the second half. How did Miami stifle one of the best offenses in the league?

It all starts with coach Erik Spoelstra. Spoelstra, since the beginning of his coaching career, has always stressed defense as the most important factor in winning games.

Last season, with a roster not nearly ...

Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
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