Miami Heat cruise past Phoenix Suns owing to excellent three point performance – NBA Recap
The Phoenix Suns faced the Miami Heat at home on Monday night and the Heat proved why they are the defending NBA champions, putting up an impressive show of teamwork and skills to cruise past the Suns for a 124-99 victory.
Miami outscored the Suns in all four quarters, but inflicted the most damage in the third period where they outscored the Suns 33-21. LeBron James was the top scorer for the Heat on the night, finishing with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Dwyane Wade had 22 points and 6 assists, going 9 of 14 from the field. Shannon Brown came off the bench to score a team high 18 points and 3 rebounds for Phoenix, going 3 of 6 from three point range.
Miami started the game fast and quick, running away with a 10-2 lead early on with the help of a few fast breaks. Phoenix replied with a 7-3 run to move within four of the Heat, but the Heat put up another 9-0 run capped off by a three pointer by Ray Allen to extend their lead to 24-11. Phoenix scored seven points in the final minute of the period to cut the deficit down to 25-31, but Norris Cole nailed a buzzer beating three pointer to put the Heat up 34-25 at the end.
An 8-1 run by the Heat to open the second period further put them in control of the game, leading 42-26. Wade later made a turnaround hook shot to have the Heat leading 51-35. Miami held on to a comfortable lead through the rest of the period and went into the halftime break with a 65-53 advantage.
Leading 75-65 in the third period, Miami burst on the offence for a 13-0 run with all of the 13 points coming either from James or Mario Chalmers. Shane Battier later hit a three pointer to put the Heat up 91-69, and the Heat outscored Phoenix 33-21 in the third period to take a 98-74 lead going into the final period.
The Heat refused to let up on their offensive momentum in the final period, with Rashard Lewis hitting a three pointer to give them a 110-80 lead. The Heat comfortably cruised to a 124-99 victory in the end.
Chris Bosh finished with 18 points and 4 rebounds, going 7 of 10 from the field. Ray Allen had 15 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for the night and a 3 of 4 performance from the distance. Udonis Haslem had 12 points and 5 rebounds for the night. Luis Scola had 15 points and 8 rebounds for the night, where as Goran Dragic finished with 13 points and 9 assists.
Miami shot 54.7 percent from the field and were an amazing 15 of 26 from the distance. Phoenix, on the other hand, shot 39.8 percent from the field and were 7 of 21 from three point range. Miami also had a 49-38 advantage in rebounds, 33-22 advantage in assists and scored 44 points in the paint compared to 34 by Phoenix.
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