In a League Pass world, the luxury of letting two games have all the space they need on Thursdays makes it worth it on nights like these. On a crowded Tuesday or Friday, an important Miami/Orlando game would be abandoned for something else given the size of the lead, but instead we were all able to see it unfold as it happened.

• Orlando Magic 99, Miami Heat 96

Team FIC Differential: Magic +16.5

Are the Heat fundamentally flawed in their construction, or is their inability to sustain leads against quality opponents in the second half a mental block preventing them from executing?

Regardless, the script has become too familiar and sample size too large to dismiss its seriousness.

Should we trust the version of the Heat that is capable of building an 11-point lead at Chicago, a 15-point lead against the Knicks and a 24-point lead against Orlando, or their incompetent, evil twin that allows those leads to evaporate?

Because LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were so good in the first half and received dreadful supporting efforts from Chris Bosh (slamming the ball after time expired was an appropriate reaction given his play on both sides) and a bench that was outscored by a 34-11 margin, it is difficult to blame them individually. But both players are too good to go that long without scoring buckets even if there are five Dwight Howards waiting in the paint.

Orlando did everything right in the second half, going on a 40-9 cumulative run with remarkable three-point shooting and impenetrable interior defense that can only be beat by a team that is hitting their jumpers. Gilbert Arenas finally broke his perimeter shooting slump and was a big part of the second half surge where he couldn't feel his face.

Even though he needed 15 shots to get 16 points, Jameer Nelson had an impressive second half and the combined effort between this one and the New York win gives me far more confidence about their postseason chances. He has had a very important week of basketball dating back to the Thunder win and a sustained run like this from Nelson in May could get them into June.

There are too many underlying elements we can examine for both sides to dismiss the result altogether, but the takeaway for me is that a single game is a microcosm of the season as a whole. There are a ton of runs in a single game and there are runs in a season in the same way.

The Magic went through a nine-game wining streak after the trade(s) where they looked indestructible and then they were written off a few weeks later and now have defeated the Lakers, Thunder, Knicks and Heat in less than two weeks.

For Miami, I’m still thinking “give me double or nothing” that they won’t blow a lead like this against a good team. The Heat defend the perimeter as well as anybody, but Orlando shot 55.2% (16-for-29) from distance and that simply will not happen with enough frequency to take seriously.

Game FIC Scores
Dwight Howard, Magic – 25.2
Ryan Anderson, Magic – 12.5 (22.7 FIC40)
LeBron James, Heat – 22.4
Dwyane Wade, Heat – 20.0
Chris Bosh, Heat – 5.9

• Denver Nuggets 103, Utah Jazz 101

Team FIC Differential: Nuggets -2.6

The Nuggets improved to 5-1 since trading Carmelo Anthony and they are doing it with grit and superb balance.

Devin Harris made a huge shot to give the Jazz a chance in the final seconds and then Andrei Kirilenko missed an easy attempt off a steal that would have sent the game into overtime.

Denver’s ability to get to the line was the real difference, attempting 33 free throws against Utah’s 12. The volume discrepancy was so huge that it didn’t matter for the Nuggets to miss 10 of them.

These two teams made the huge deadline trades, but are going in opposite directions in terms of the final stretch of 10-11.

Game FIC Scores

Ty Lawson, Nuggets – 19.0
Raymond Felton, Nuggets – 9.3 
Devin Harris, Jazz – 18.5
Al Jefferson, Jazz – 18.6