Heat survives double OT against New Jersey, will play Boston in 1st round of Playoffs

I just got done watching the Heat-Nets game, and I looked down to go over what I had typed up for my recap.  About 10 seconds in I realized that his game was such a stinker that I didn't want to read about it anymore, so there is no way that I was going to post a recap that had us reliving that formality of a game.  Even if it did have some significance in the standings for Miami, they sure did a good job convincing me that it was just another meaningless 82^nd game.

Miami making through overtime was pretty impressive considering that after Beasley fouled out just 1:48 into the first OT, they had no true 1^st option out there.  Dorell was the best option on a court that included Mario Chalmers, Joel Anthony, Yakhouba Diawara and Shavlik Randolph.  Props must be given to Kooba and James Jones, with both drilling clutch triples in the 2^nd overtime. 

Something I thought was interesting was that Milwaukee won their game before this one ended, meaning that assuming they knew the results of that game, Miami held their playoff opponent fate in their own hands.  Of course nobody is going to admit to anything, and it's really impossible to tell what the Heat wanted judging by the way they played.  They could have been trying to win and looked bad, or just not been able to look good losing.  Either way, its Boston here we come. 

GAME NOTES

• That rather ‘scrubby' roster played some very solid D in OT #2, holding the Nets to 0-for-6 from the field with a turnover.  
• A pretty good game for Mario Chalmers, playing a team-high 42 minutes and hitting 6-of-15 from the field (and 3-of-9 form beyond) for 15 points.  As important, he dished out 7 assists and only turned the ball over twice, which is big considering the amount of minutes he played.
• I liked that Shavlik Randolph got some minutes.  Now I know what his skill set is and that in an emergency he could come in and do a decent job on both ends of the floor.  He hit 4 of his 8 shots and of his 6 rebounds, 4 were on the offensive glass. 
• Super Cool did a good job in a game where he was the Heat's best option.  He hit 10-of-24 from the field but didn't step behind the 3-point line, which I liked.  He finished with 25 and 13 for just his 3^rd double double in the last 3 months.  Compare that to the first 3+ months of the season when he recorded 8 double doubles. 
• How far off the radar has Daequan Cook fallen?  He couldn't even crack the roster in this game. 
• In just 19 minutes Jamaal Magloire grabbed 6 rebounds.  Joel had 6 in 39 minutes.
• I loved the decision to start James Jones and get him a bunch of minutes heading into the playoffs.  While he is rarely used, his shooting ability may be called upon at any time during the Playoffs.  That being the case, playing him 36+ minutes and getting any ‘bench rust' off was an amazingly wise decision by Spo and co. 

Alright its very late and I've been up since around 7am because for some reason my phone absolutely exploded this morning with news that had me so excited there was no way I was going back to sleep.  I'll get more into the Playoff matchup later this week as we get closer to Game 1, which is on Saturday night at 8pm.  Game 2 will be Tuesday night at 8, Game 3 will be at the AAA on Friday night at 7 and Game 4 will be a Sunday matinee with tipoff at 1pm. 

While all the games are nationally televised, I believe that all but the Sunday afternoon game will be aired locally on Sun Sports.  I love hearing that local flavor and I'm a big fan of Eric and Tony.  I could be wrong about the Sunday game, and as soon as I hear anything for sure I'll pass it along.