The Miami Heat kicked off 2012 with a dominant performance against the Charlotte Bobcats, walking away with the 129-90 victory on Jan. 1.

The Heat took control in the very first quarter of the second encounter between the two teams this season, building up an 18 point lead in the opening twelve minutes. Miami kept their pace up in the second quarter, increasing their lead to 28 points by halftime. The Heat continued their dominance in the second half of the game, handing the Bobcats their most lopsided loss of the season.

Miami’s offense was firing on all cylinders against the Bobcats, shooting 60 percent from the field. The Heat were even more successful from beyond the arc, converting on 64 percent of their attempts from long range.

Forward Chris Bosh led Miami against the Bobcats, shooting 69 percent from the field. Bosh finished with the only double-double of the game, putting up 24 points and 10 rebounds against the Bobcats.

Dwyane Wade was the second highest scorer for the Heat, putting up 22 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds. LeBron James had his lowest scoring game of the 2011/12 NBA season, but he was still effective for the Heat, shooting 60 percent from the field and finishing with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

Mario Chalmers was lights out from beyond the arc, going 4-4 from long range. Chalmers missed only one shot against the Bobcats, walking away with 16 points and 5 assists.

Miami’s bench had their best performance of the season against the Bobcats, finishing with a combined 43 points and 17 rebounds.

Rookie Norris Cole had another solid outing for Miami, putting up 16 points (shooting 75 percent from the field), 9 assists and 3 steals. Udonis Haslem also gave the Heat some quality minutes coming off the bench, finishing with six points and nine rebounds.

Miami’s next game will be against the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 2, and they should be able to keep their undefeated record intact.

David is a Miami Heat fan that has followed the team for 16 years. Follow him on twitter @davidkingwriter and check out his blog.

Sources:

Player and game information from ESPN.com

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Playing LeBron James any day of the year is enough to make most opponents break out in cold sweats in the middle of the night.

Be one of the unfortunate teams to get a game against King James on his birthday, and you know you’re in for a long night.

James turned a ripe old 27 on Friday, and the Miami Heat star says he always plays with a little extra juice on his birthday.

“My birthday and my mom’s birthday are the two days I feel real, real good about playing basketball,” James said on Friday morning after the team’s shootaround. “I’ve had the luxury of having games on my birthday and my mom’s birthday so we’ll see what happens.”

That could be bad news for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The undefeated Heat play at Target Center in the fifth time in James’ nine seasons that he has played on his birthday.

In four previous birthday games, James has averaged 35.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists. He’s also shot 55 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range.

So what gets into him on those days?

“You know my birthday when I turned 15 or I turned 9, when I was growing up, it wasn’t the best of days on my birthday,” he said. “To see where I am today, and to be able to turn 21 and be in the NBA and turn 22 and now turn 27 and be a part of this league, it’s a testament. It’s also I’m very humbled that I am able to be here and I’m very blessed.”

James’ best birthday performance came in 2009 when he had 48 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in a victory over Atlanta while he was still with the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s also the only time he’s headed home for his birthday cake with a victory.

James had 38 points and seven assists in a loss to Miami in 2008, 33 points and nine boards against Chicago in 2006 and 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a loss to Indiana as a rookie in 2003.

“It’s amazing how many games he gets on his birthday, I’ll tell you that,” Heat star Dwyane Wade said. “He’s had a lot of games on his birthday. The schedule works that way.”

James is playing some of the best basketball of his career early this season for the Heat, who are coming off a disappointing NBA finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks last season. He’s averaging 32.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists in his first three games, and has developed a low-post game to boot.

“He’s been playing exceptionally well,” Wade said. “He’s in a different mind state right now. I expect him to continue the mind state he’s in.

“You can’t always know what that is going to result to, but he always enjoys certain moments. It’s a special moment when you get an opportunity to play on this day. The biggest thing is to try to come out and lead us to a win.”

James said the best birthday present he ever received was the Hummer SUV his mother bought him when he turned 18.

The Timberwolves had their own birthday treat for James when they shut down guard J.J. Barea for the game with a strained right hamstring. The super-quick Barea hurt the Heat in the NBA finals last season and was a major reason the Mavs were able to pull off the upset.

Asked if he will miss chasing Barea around, James didn’t hesitate: “Absolutely not.”

___

Follow Jon Krawczynski on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/APkrawczynski.

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

Hilariously, Amar’e Stoudemire continues to take shots at the rival Miami Heat, saying that his Knicks are looking forward to challenging the reigning Eastern Conference champs. According to STAT, LeBron and co. aren’t ready to claim the NBA throne from the champion Mavericks. Per the NY Post: “Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire said though the Miami Heat are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, they aren’t the kings of the NBA. ‘The Miami Heat are the guys. [The Heat] are the team to beat, they’re the Eastern Conference champions,’ Stoudemire said. ‘I think Dallas is really on the throne and Miami is trying to climb the throne but it’s too high for them to get up there.’ Stoudemire, who handed out presents to children at Harlem with The Brotherhood/Sister Sol and his foundation, said the Knicks are an ‘up and coming’ team in the East, but are still chasing the Heat. ‘We’re not there yet, we have a lot of room to improve,’ Stoudemire said. ‘We know how good we can be. The potential is pretty much doing what you haven’t done yet and to keep striving for greatness. I think we can be really, really good.’ The vision Stoudemire had for the Knicks when he signed with the team two summers ago is finally coming to fruition, with a roster filled with ‘great’ players.”

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Read More: nba free agents 2011, Kyrylo Fesenko (C – UTA), Miami Heat, Houston Rockets

The Golden State Warriors are trying to bulk up inside and land themselves a quality big man who can grab rebounds and play solid defense. Their first big target is Kyrylo Fesenko, who most recently played in the NBA with the Utah Jazz.

Fesenko has left the league to play in Europe most recently, but it appears as if two teams are still trying to vie for his services. One of them is the Warriors, who are looking for a backup center who provides quality minutes and tries to further instill the mindset of defense that Mark Jackson wants his team to believe. The other is the Miami Heat.

The Heat really needed a big man presence to help bolster their chances at capturing a championship, as Miami’s offense proved it could stagnate if they weren’t able to produce points inside. Additionally, Fesenko’s presence could bolster the Heat’s interior D, which is generally their weak point. It’ll be interesting to see if either team can land the Ukranian.

To discuss Fesenko on either team, head to Peninsula is Mightier (Heat) and Golden State of Mind (Warriors).

That’s all the news for today.

MIAMI—

When is training camp not training camp? When it comes in December. When it runs only 16 days. And when it precedes a lockout-compressed 66-game regular-season schedule.

While the Miami Heat technically remain in camp, with a morning session Thursday on the practice court at AmericanAirlines Arena and an evening scrimmage for season-ticket holders on the main court, these two-a-days hardly have the feel of what typically transpires in October.

“Yeah, it feels like practice,” guard Dwyane Wade said of the camp being run by coach Erik Spoelstra. “And I think Coach Spo has done a great job, as well, of reading guys’ bodies, knowing that this is a time of year guys are not used to this. Even though we worked out all year, your body is not used to this.

“He’s been doing a good job of trying to rest us. So it really feels like practice. The young guys are getting here early to learn everything and the veteran guys are knowing where we’re just trying to get comfortable with everything. It really is like being in practice.”

Because of the mayhem that will follow, those 66 games in 124 days, Spoelstra has been weighing risk-reward on a daily basis. He initially had scheduled a two-a-day session for Wednesday but relented after a single, morning practice.

Yet while that will save his players’ legs, forward LeBron James said it also changes the cadence veterans are used to in the weeks leading to the regular-season opener.

“I mean you would always want more days,” he said of the compacted camp. “But every team, this is what we have, so we’re not using that as an excuse.

“This is what we’ve got, they crammed it in. We’re excited to be back and we’re going to get as much work as we can get done.”

James said with a mostly veteran roster there has largely been a professional approach to the camp that opened last Friday and ends Dec. 24, a day before the regular season opener on the road against the Dallas Mavericks.

“We haven’t had one step backwards since we’ve been practicing,” he said. “We’re a settled bunch. We’re a calm bunch right now.”

Typically, Spoelstra enters camp with priorities, be it establishing the defense or stressing trigger points for the offense.

“Quite naturally,” he said, “it has to be both, and we have to do it on the fly. Last year, in training camp, we were so committed to implementing our defense, making sure guys knew our system, but establishing the importance of that side of the floor. We’ve built up some very good habits. Thankfully, we have a majority of our core players back, not that we’re not working on it, we certainly are.

“We’re also trying to incorporate some new things offensively, but trying to get a continuity and work on some of the details on that side of the floor, as well.”

As he stressed last season, the physical gifts of his players tend to allow the offense to gain its own flow. But he also said with greater insight into those gifts come greater possibilities.

“There’s some things that we are going to do a little bit differently,” he said, “to try to fit our personnel and personality a little bit more, and we want to try to take advantage of our speed, our athleticism, our ability to get up and down.”

iwinderman@tribune.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat

There is the quick update of the day.

Certainly, the 2010-2011 Miami Heat season did not end as well as the 2005-2006 season. However, it may have been the most memorable. The first year of the “Big Three” will definitely be memorable in the Heat’s history.

The Miami Heat’s LeBron James.
Wikimedia Commons

Moment #1. The Press Conference of the Big Three

The acquisitions of LeBron James and Chris Bosh and the return of Dwyane Wade brought these All-Stars to the Miami Heat. A press conference that was described as a “welcome party” brought out 13,000 fans to the American Airlines Arena to celebrate with the star acquisitions. Was this the moment that sealed the hatred of the other NBA teams and their fans?

Moment #2. The first regular season game of the Big Three

Arguably the most anticipated opener in Miami Heat history, the Miami Heat opened on the road against the defending Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics. Losing 88-80, the Miami Heat were led by LeBron James’ 31 points and 8 rebounds. The rest of the team brought limited contributions as Dwyane Wade was the only other Heat player in double figures with 13 points.

Moment #3. Big Three 30 Point Double Doubles

On March 27^th, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade and LeBron James each had at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in the same game. The Heat were able to beat the Houston Rockets, 125-119, extending the team’s winning streak to six games. That had been the longest winning streak since the All-Star break.

Moment #4. Christmas Day in Los Angeles

During the NBA regular season, there may be no more anticipated regular season game, especially by the casual fans, than Christmas Day. These games usually are marquee matchups, and the Miami Heat and the defending NBA Champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, could not have been more anticipated. The Heat were able to win the game, 96-80, with Lebron James leading the team with a triple-double, ending with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Moment #5. Punching a Ticket to the NBA Finals

The Miami Heat were able to score a huge comeback win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals to beat the Chicago Bulls, 83-80, at Chicago’s United Center. The Heat won the series, 4 games to 1, and advanced to their first Finals appearance since the 2005-2006 season.

Edwin Alexander has been following the Miami Heat since their introduction to the NBA in the 1988-1989 season. He has attended many home games since and follows the team as one of his hobbies.

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In an interview with FOX Sports Florida, free agent Samuel Dalembert(notes) said that taking the $5 million midlevel exception to sign with the Miami Heat “would be tough.”

The 7-foot shot blocker has been on the team’s radar since the Heat lost the NBA Finals to a larger Dallas Mavericks team, and many in the Miami sports community believed South Florida’s vibrant Haitian population-the largest in the country, by far-could attract the Port-au-Prince native.

That said, Dalembert made over $13.43 million for the Sacramento Kings in 2011, and because the Heat are over the salary cap, Miami can only offer him the midlevel exception.

According to the same FOX Sports interview, Dalembert is interested in playing for the Heat, Knicks or Rockets, but most intrigued by Houston. Dalembert said, “Houston, that one is the best … I’m interested in the Rockets. They have a good team over there, a running team.”

Dalembert’s pitch to end up in Houston should come as no surprise, given that former Rockets C Yao Ming(notes) has retired and the Rockets’ team payroll is about $11 million under the expect salary cap.

It should be noted that Dalembert did not dismiss the notion of joining the Miami Heat, entirely. He added, “But you never know. There are trades and things that you could do.”

Other free agent power forwards or centers for the Heat to consider from the 2011 class:

* Jeff Foster(notes), Joel Pryzbilla, Kris Humphries(notes), Nene, Tyson Chandler(notes)

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If each team plays two exhibitions before a 2011-12 NBA season, why not pit Dwight Howard against LeBron James? (Gary W. Green, Orlando Sentinel)

The cancellation of the NBA’s 2011 preseason schedule could mean that the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat will play two exhibition games if the league and its players’ union reach a new collective bargaining agreement in time to save all or part of the 2011-12 regular season.

It’s happened before. 

A prolonged work stoppage forced the cancellation of the 1998 preseason schedule and the abbreviation of the 1998-99 regular season to 50 games in 90 days.

The Magic and Heat each played only two exhibitions to get ready for the regular season. The Magic hosted the Heat in Orlando on Jan. 30, 1999. The Heat hosted the Magic in Miami on Feb. 1, 1999. The regular season began on Feb. 5, 1999. 

Pitting the Magic and the Heat against each other for those two exhibition games had one clear basketball-related benefit for both teams: With only two weeks to get ready for the season, the quick flights between the two cities gave the squads as much practice time as possible. 

That’s why I would guess the Magic and Heat will face each other twice for exhibitions when, and if, a new CBA is reached. 

The NBA, its teams and its players will be in a hurry to play as many regular-season games as possible. If that means that teams will only play a pair of exhibitions, then so be it. 

The short travel time between Orlando and Miami would be appealing to both franchises’ basketball-operations staffs and to their players. 

The star power in the current Heat-Magic rivalry also would be attractive to both franchises from a business sense. 

Won’t Magic fans be more likely to attend an otherwise meaningless exhibition game at Amway Center if they had a chance to see LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh play? 

Won’t Heat fans be more likely to attend an otherwise meaningless exhibition game at AmericanAirlines Arena if they can see Dwight Howard play? 

Follow Josh Robbins on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins and e-mail him at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.

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