You only get one chance to make a first impression and the Miami Heat waited more than three months to make theirs on Tuesday night against the Boston Celtics in the first game of the 2010-11 season.
Luckily for the revamped Heat, there are 81 games left on the schedule to not only silence their detractors but also to work together to become a well-oiled machine before the real season begins in mid-April.
Both the Heat and Celtics looked overly excited in the early going as two offensive fouls were called in the game’s first three possessions. Somewhat fittingly, LeBron James scored the first basket of the new season with a midrange jumper of all things.
Despite an overabundance of turnovers (18), the Celtics looked to be in midseason form midway through the first quarter. They were playing stellar defense and a headband-less Rajon Rondo knifed his way into the lane for Shaquille O’Neal’s first basket as a Celtic (a two-handed slam) and a wide open three-pointer for Paul Pierce.
Early on Shaq was heartily cheered any time he touched the basketball and at times the crowd was just as loud as it was at any point during the 2010 NBA Finals.
The Heat will be under a microscope all season long and coach Erik Spoelstra’s first questionable decision came at the 6:26 mark of the first quarter when James was sent to the foul line for an attempt on a defensive three-second call.
Both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are more reliable at the charity stripe than James, who is a 74.2% career shooter from the foul line.
Bosh was the first member of the New Big Three to get a breather when he was replaced by super-sub Udonis Haslem at the 2:55 mark of the first. Surprisingly, Miami looked more confused defensively than anything else. Boston got a number of uncontested looks in the first half, while it was James, as expected, that had the ball in his hands more often than not.
James motioned for his teammates to cut here and go there just as he did with an inferior cast with Cleveland and it’s easy to see him approaching a triple-double on a nightly basis. His court vision is still amazing and the Heat won’t have many halves like they did in the first against Boston when they scored 30 points on 26.8% shooting (including just nine points in the first period).
Miami trailed by 15 at halftime (45-30), but a strong third quarter allowed the visitors to crawl within six points after three quarters. LeBron scored 15 of his team’s 27 points as he played the entire period. The Heat more than doubled their first half shooting percentage as they nailed 61.5% of their shots and went 8-for-11 from the foul line.
LeBron got the Heat to within three (83-80) with 1:09 left in regulation, but Boston’s defense clamped down to keep Miami off the board. It wasn’t pretty, but the Celtics opened their season with an 88-80 win and crashed Miami’s coming-out party in the process.
As badly as the Heat wanted to open their new era with a victory, this will likely be the only time they have a losing record all season as they look to get in the win column against the 76ers on Wednesday night.
While the storyline in Boston was trumpeted as a battle of the Eastern Conference’s two powers (Orlando notwithstanding), it was evident on the court that Miami and Boston are at very different stages.
The Celtics are the quintessential ‘team’ with their core already having spent three years together. Rondo finished the game with 17 assists, two more than Miami did as a team.
The Heat, however, are not yet a team and they may not be a cohesive one for at least a few weeks.
Want a perfect example? Boston had four players reach double-figures (a fifth had nine) and just seven separated their first and third-leading scorer.
Meanwhile, James led the way for the Heat with 31 points and only one other player scored more than eight. The difference between LeBron and Miami’s third-leading scorer was 23 points. The Heat will win some games by riding the hot hand, but balance will be needed if the New Big Three are going to follow in the footsteps of the 2008 Celtics and win a title in their first season.
The preseason isn’t an exact substitute for the regular season and it didn’t help that Wade played all of a few minutes in Miami’s exhibition contests because of a hamstring injury.
“Right now it’s a feel-out process for myself, for D-Wade, for Chris and for the rest of the guys,” James said.
The Heat are still a near lock for 60 wins and come spring the Celtics won’t be able to jump out to a double-digit lead against LeBron, Wade and Bosh quite as easily. Once Miami’s shots started falling at a normal rate, Boston had a hard time stopping more than one of their playmakers.
Wade only had 13 points (on 16 shots), but his five in the fourth quarter kept the Heat in a game that they had no business winning when you consider the way they shot the ball and their miscommunication in the first half.
When you have two closers like LeBron and D-Wade, you’ll have a chance to win every night. Miami shot just 36.5%, turned the ball over 17 times and scored just nine points in the first quarter, but they still came within a few baskets of defeating the defending Eastern Conference champions.
No, the Heat didn’t make the first impression they wanted to, but perhaps it’s the rest of the league that should be worried. If they can nearly beat one of the league’s elite teams by playing really only one good half (or quarter if you want to be picky) then it’s going to be very hard to beat them in a series of any kind.
“This is one of 82,” Wade said. “Sorry if everyone thought we were going to go 82 and 0. It just ain't happening.”
Andrew Perna is Deputy Editor of RealGM.com. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail: Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com. You can also follow Andrew on Twitter: APerna7.