With Sandy occupying the thoughts of most people on the East Coast, last night's Miami Heat performance against the Boston Celtics has rightly flown under the radar.
But simply put, it was one of the 10 best games the Heat have played offensively since LeBron James took his talents to South Beach in 2010.
The Heat won 120-107, shooting 50% on threes, 54% overall, and racking up 25 assists to only 8 turnovers.
In the LeBron era, the Heat have scored more than 120 points just 11 times. Based on Basketball Reference's offensive rating statistic (which measures efficiency by points per 100 possessions), last night's game was the 8th-best Heat performance since 2010. Here are those games where Miami scored at least 120 points, in order of offensive rating:
- 135.6 offensive rating against the Spurs (1/17/12)
- 135.3 against the Wizards (3/30/11)
- 130.3 against the Raptors (1/22/11)
- 128.8 against the T-Wolves (10/2/11)
- 128.7 against the Rockets (3/27/11)
- 128.5 against the Kings (2/21/12)
- 127.1 against the Suns (10/17/10)
- 127.0 against the Celtics (last night)
- 126.3 against the Rockets (12/29/10)
- 125.2 against the Bobcats (1/1/12)
- 124.6 against the Wizards (2/25/11)
Miami figured out something in the playoffs last year. When Chris Bosh got hurt and they were struggling against the Pacers in the Eastern Conference semis, they played LeBron at power forward and the entire team fell into place.
In the offseason, they signed shooters (Ray Allen) and hybrid wing players (Rashard Lewis) who fit perfectly in a small lineup with LeBron at the floor.
If no one gets hurt, this will be their best offensive season by far.
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