But against the Heat, they were off to a great start but ended up getting outscored by 41 points in the second half. Houston came into the game 0-2 and struggling on the offensive end. He didn’t play the first game of the season due to a suspension, and the center is being held out of back-to-backs as a precaution due to his injuries. This season on the perimeter Wade has been having an awesome year and looks like he’s on his way to making his 12th National Basketball Association All-Star game appearance. The MVP runner-up only seems to take threes or run the rim looking for the foul.
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Rookie big man Karl-Anthony Towns followed up his teammate’s performance with a big game of his own Friday night.
This is further buoyed by the betting odds provided OddsShark.com by which have the Heat as a -4 point favorite against Atlanta on Tuesday night.
The first half was a blowout.
Or, more realistically, James Harden, he of the $200 million Adidas contract and the rekindled “curse” from rapper Lil B, is merely in a horrendous shooting slump that has his Houston Rockets and their inconsistent lineup sitting at 0-3.
Rubio shot 10-of-17 from the field and made two out of four three-pointers.
Heat center Hassan Whiteside had a monster game, as the 26-year old led all scorers with 25 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and two blocks on the night. Dwyane Wade isn’t the best at staying true to a shooter, as he likes to roam and help on defense.
Houston was able to bump their halftime lead up to 21-points, but went cold mid-way through the third quarter. But he had just two in the second half as the Rockets offense crashed and burned. Houston started to cool off from deep and Miami started to make shots outside of the paint. Behind Thornton’s 19 first-half points, Houston built an early double-digit lead. Wade had eight assists in the Miami Heat’s comeback victory, with seven going to Whiteside for point-blank scores. And to do it after being down by 21 points in the third quarter is remarkable. We just have to continue to play hard, continue to stick with it, continue to have positive energy. Atlanta also dodged an after-game scare as X-rays on the finger of point guard Jeff Teague, who averages a team-leading 18.3 points to pace five Hawks in double figures, came back negative. Miami trimmed what was a 21-point lead early in the third quarter to a tie game late in the same period. Tyler Johnson scored 11, Chris Bosh had all of his 10 points in the fourth and Justise Winslow added 10 for the Heat.
Hayes, now 32 years old, played in 29 games for the Toronto Raptors last season, averaging 8.8 minutes per game.
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There was a night and day difference between Miami’s energy and defensive effort in the first and second half.
