Forward Michael Beasley might be getting used to coming off the bench. After posting a forgettable 0-for-5 shooting performance in his reserve debut against Phoenix on Friday, Beasley shot 10-for-16 and finished with 24 points Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Beasley apparently will be coming off the bench for a while. Coach Erik Spoelstra likes the lineup with center Joel Anthony starting and Udonis Haslem moving from center back to power forward, his natural position. "We needed to change our disposition at the start of games," Spoelstra said.
The Heat had six games against teams Spoelstra said had "real size."
"We had struggled in the first quarter in those games, so I kinda like to change the energy a little bit," he said. "Also, it gives us a little bit of a punch off the bench."
Beasley had 17 points (all in the second quarter) and five rebounds in the first half against the Clippers. He entered the game averaging 13.8 points and 5.4 rebounds.
"This was the first game I wasn't out there thinking," Beasley said.
In other words, he just played, and the result was good.
CLIPPERS 97, HEAT 96: An inadvertent whistle prevented Miami from getting an easy game-winning dunk in the game's closing seconds at Staples Center, and as you might guess, the Heat wasn't happy.
"It was (expletive)," guard Dwyane Wade said of the play.
With the Heat trailing 97-96, Wade stole an inbounds pass from Baron Davis with 7.6 seconds left. Wade threw the ball downcourt, where forwards Udonis Haslem and Shawn Marion and guard Mario Chalmers were all running free. There were no Clippers players around. They had the game.
But Wade had bumped into referee Courtney Kirkland, who inadvertently blew his whistle, which stopped the play.
"We won the game," Wade said. "They took it from us."
