Heat Debut Balanced Offense, Knick New York

Wade 26, O'Neal 22, and Beasley 21. Perhaps this won't be so painful after all

By JANIE CAMPBELL

Updated 6:15 AM EST, Thu, Oct 29, 2009

Print Email Share TWITTER FACEBOOK

Getty Images

The Heat debuted their new starting lineup Wednesday night, and the 115-93 result over New York was so intriguing fans could be forgiven for wishing the Knicks weren't so bad.

Because -- unlike "Dwyane Wade is waiting until next summer to decide," saying this will never get old -- the Knicks are very, very bad. Atrocious, even. Fail Boat-esqe. And if tonight's suprisingly balanced attack is any indication, and what passes for Jermaine O'Neal's "knees" these days holds up, the Heat might just match up to more worthy opponents better than previously thought.

Or at least be palatable, which is better than some anticipated judging from the number of empty seats (or the dour tone of our season preview).

Check this rundown: Dwyane Wade notched 26 points, O'Neal 22, Michael Beasley 21, Daequan Cook 15, and Mario Chalmers 11. That's a bit more spread out than last year, a situation which prompted Knicks forward Al Harrington to offer a not-untrue-for-2008 pregame quip: "Just let [Wade] get 100, and everybody else gets nothing and we get 108."

Guess he had about as much faith in the upside of the younger Heatsters as most experts did. They showed him, and they did it in a fabulously concerted effort that saw the Heat go 26 of 31 from the field for 20 minutes following the first quarter, and, later, a 32-8 third-quarter run to put it away.

There was little trace of any fallout from the reshuffling of earlier this week.

Those changes led to a new starting lineup of Chalmers, Wade, Quentin Richardson, Beasley, and O'Neal, relegating five-year starter Udonis Haslem to leading the bench boys. But with Daequan Cook and Carlos Arroyo, that's a none-too-shabby cast, and Haslem got 30 minutes of work in with "his" crew notching 26 points.

Is he capable of continuing to start? Of course. But having a title-winning starting-quality power forward leading the charge off the bench is a spark (and a luxury) the Heat could have used last year when it was an uneven rookie Beasley in the role.

Bumping Haslem allowed the Heat to get Beas more experience, and it suited him. He was 9-for-14, a welcome boost on offense, and a more mature presence on the court despite his own admission that he felt like "a kid in a candy store."

But he wasn't the only junior Miami player to show a little improvement.

"Daequan looked like a completely different player,'' Erik Spoelstra said of his sharpshooter's newfound and summer-earned ability to drive with the ball. "I think the fans, his teammates, see it. He's very comfortable putting the ball on the floor now. He makes plays for other guys.

"Once he knows the league better and his game better, you'll see him drive even more. I like his game when he's aggressive."

Don't we all. And speaking of aggressive, it's not smart to get too far ahead of the Heat here. It's just one game, and "championship team" shouldn't be uttered in the same room as these Heat. But it's hard not to get excited along with one presumably over-caffeinated blog commenter, who put it this way:

"We look like a championship team right now! Maybe it’s because we’re playing the Knicks. But maybe not!"

(For more on the pregame festivities including the retirement of Tim Hardaway's jersey, click here)

Janie Campbell has also had a lot of coffee, and will have even more over the course of the 8,472 remaining games. Look out! Her work has appeared in irreverent sports sites around the Internet.