Instant Reaction: Utah Jazz 116, Miami Heat 114

            I didn’t plan on doing too many of these spur of the moment posts, but the Heat-Jazz game I just watched is certainly worthy of being the subject of the first such column. This game was crazy. The Heat was up by 22 at one point during the 2^nd quarter, with Dwayne Wade doing most of the heavy lifting early. However, once the second half began it was a different story. Paul Millsap was having his way in the paint (which isn’t hard to do, with Chris Bosh being the only major deterrent down low for the Heat), and Deron Williams started to heat up. With about 5 minutes to play, Utah took its first lead of the game, 81-79.

            It was at this point that the game went into overdrive. Wade responded with a three (he was on his way to 39 points for the night). Lebron James hit Wade with a perfect laser pass at the hoop for two more (Lebron was on his way to his first triple-double with the Heat). The Heat built up a 7-point lead, 88-81. Game over, right? Not exactly.

            To put it simply, Paul Millsap went bonkers. He had already put up 18 in the 3^rd quarter to slowly drag the Jazz back into it. He topped that by hitting three 3-pointers in about a 1-minute span (he was 2-20 for his career entering this game from downtown). It was ridiculous. He then forced overtime by snagging a missed three and making a lay-up at the buzzer. It was a truly epic performance by Millsap (who finished with 46 points).

            Deron Williams had fouled out just before the end of regulation, which appeared to tip the odds of victory heavily in Miami’s favor. Wade came out in overtime looking like a man possessed, scoring the first 7 points of overtime (capped off by a huge dunk that he slammed over two Jazz players). The Jazz kept at it, largely thanks to Andrei Kirilenko, who looks like he’s almost back to his form from 3 or 4 years ago. The Jazz had a 114-111 lead before Wade hit a ridiculous corner 3 (Wade was clearly the alpha dog in overtime. Lebron James was invisible) to tie it. The ending was a bit anti-climatic, as Wade fouled backup center Francisco Elson with 0.4 seconds left after an offensive rebound, giving the Jazz two easy free throws and a 116-114 victory.

            Despite the dull free throw ending, this was a fantastic game. Lebron was great to watch before he pulled the invisible man act in overtime, playing point guard in the 4^th quarter and creating great shot opportunities for Chris Bosh. Deron Williams was too much for Wade on the offensive end, forcing double teams by the Heat in the 4^th quarter. Paul Millsap’s three-balls were improbable, and enjoyable at the same time. Combine those shots with the put-back that forced OT and finishing with 46 points, and this will more than likely be the best game of Millsap’s career. This game supports my point I made in my “10 awesome things” column about the watchability (for those who missed Monday’s post, I invented watchability yesterday) of the NBA. If we are having games like this in November, how good are the playoffs going to be?