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Miami might have Bosh to count on tonight

Centers played the key roles in the last Miami-Orlando head-to-head match, with Bosh recording 32 points and 10 rebounds and Vucevic 33 points and 17 rebounds

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Despite losing James last summer and not being able to count on Bosh lately, Miami Heat proved to have enough quality for the upper part of the Conference table on numerous occasions. Still, coach Spoelstra's team remains prone to ups and downs - following a great performance that resulted in a win over Cleveland, Miami went on to lose to the Grizzlies Saturday night.

Miami opened the meeting with Memphis badly, with opponents taking an 11-point lead 12 minutes into the game. The point-deficit for Miami went to 16 by half time, which is when Wade and others improved their performances for a 23-5 run that got them only one points short in the third quarter. Each time Spoelstra's team got that close, the Grizzlies would come up with a great response.

 - It was a hell of a second half. but we were always that one step short - the coach said. Wade added:

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- We played a good game, in the end even had the chance to win. I think the whole team did really well, I'm really proud of us. 

Miami ended with field goal efficiency of  51.4%, lead by the brilliant Wade with 25 points (11-for-17) and seven assists. Granger did a great job coming on from the bench to finish with 18 points.

- It was really great to see him do that well. He's been putting a lot of work and effort into this and we'll happy it's showing - coach said about Granger.

Miami weren't all too disappointed about the last defeat to the Grizzlies but the fact remains they should have done better in the six straight home games. They're on a 2-4 record and now meet Orlando in the final game home. Bosh did the practice session yesterday and might be back on the team today, which is great news.

Just like Miami, Orlando are a team lacking consistency. For example, Vaughn's team sometimes lose to teams such as 76ers, Utah, or Boston, while beating much better teams such as the Hornets last Saturday away, only one day after losing to Cavaliers home. 

Orlando squandered away the lead over Cleveland in the last quarter and seemed to have learned their lesson. They had a ten-point lead at half time against the Hornets, keeping the opponents at a distance and not allowing them to get back in the game, despite all the attempts and the fact Walker finished with 42 points.

- We would not have been able to keep the lead up in some other games. Hornets had some good runs today but would always fell short. We managed to stay ahead this time - Vucevic said.

Good flow saw Orlando ending the match with 102 points and shooting efficiency of 45.8%. Vucevic recorded team-best 22 points (9-for-19) and 11 rebounds, while Harris added 21 point and 6 rebounds.

- Our offense needs to be including everybody in - coach Vaughn said about the fact Oladipo (13 points), Fournier (12 points), Payton (11 points) and Gordon (11 points) all finished with double digits, besides Vucevic and Harris.

After a win over the Hornets, Orlando are set to face Miami today away. They lost the last 10 head-to-head meetings with Miami, the last one taking place mid-November. Miami were lead by Bosh (32 points) despite Vucevic recording his carrier-high 33 points and 17 rebounds. Since Bosh might be back today, Vucevic could have a tough match-up again, which, as he confirmed after the last head-to-head meeting, does not suit him at all. It's because he's not used to following his player as far from the rim as Bosh usually goes.