The Miami Heat are on Fire

      Last night at The Garden, the Heat extended their winning streak to 23 games by beating Boston 105-103. In a game where nearly everything went right for Boston, Miami was still able to win. With their comeback win last night, Miami has reached its final checkpoint before chasing down the '71-'72 Lakers win streak of 33 games. Entering the contest, Miami had beaten its opponents by an average of 11.7 points per game. This game went far differently.

     Jeff Green exploded early in the game, powering the Celtics to an early lead. He helped lead the C's on a 17-0 run to close out the first quarter. Miami trailed by 12 at the end of the first period. Boston had won 11 straight at home (all since Rondo's injury), and 10 straight at home in the regular season against the Heat, including 5-0 since LeBron James joined Miami. It was all going Boston's way. They held this early lead throughout the game, leading by 13 with 8:00 left in the 4th quarter. Since Paul Pierce was drafted, the Celtics were 316-2 when leading by that margin with eight minutes or fewer remaining. On the flip-side, LeBron's teams went 2-105 in such games.

      The Heat would not be denied. LeBron hit a pull-up jumper to give the Heat the lead and Paul Pierce missed at the buzzer to clinch the game. The Heat overcame a deficit of 17 points, the largest deficit they faced during the streak. LeBron had 37 points, 12 assists, and 7 rebounds; he was the first player to put up those numbers at the Celtics since Scottie Pippen in 1995. He also leads the NBA with 4 games of at least 30 points and 10 assists. Miami also withstood a career night from Jeff Green, who finished with 43 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals, and 2 assists (the first player to hit those benchmarks since, ironically, LeBron James in 2010).

      What does last night mean? The Celtics had a career night from Jeff Green and a lead that they had only blown two times in the past 15 seasons. Yet, Miami still was able to find a way to win. This begs the question: Can they keep streaking? The quick answer is yes. The Heat have a cakewalk through the rest of March playing Cleveland, Detroit, Charlotte, Orlando, Chicago, and New Orleans before a meeting at San Antonio to close the month. LeBron James is clicking and the league's frontrunner for MVP continues to make highlight reels on a nightly basis. The heat also have outscored their opponents by 70 points in the final 5 minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime during their win streak. With all these factors in play, the safe bet is that the Heat will still be streaking come April. If you have been betting on the Heat all along, you are a very happy individual right now. If you started with $100 on the Heat winning their first game of the streak and let it ride for all 23 games, you would have a paycheck of $55,500 sitting on your desk.

(facts and figures taken from @BleacherReport and @espnstatsinfo on twitter)