Spotlight, please

After seasons in the background, Jamal Mashburn is injury-free and sparking the Heat in the playoffs.

By DARRELL FRY

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 9, 2000

MIAMI -- Jamal Mashburn was at the top of the key, dribbling and then spinning, trying to shake his defender. Falling away from the hoop, he threw up an arcing shot. The ball splashed gently into the basket.

It was nothing, really. It wasn't even a game situation, but a little horseplay at the end of the Heat's practice Monday. But more and more, the immeasurable talent Mashburn has shown in the gym is creeping into the arena, especially in the playoffs.

And with that talent's entrance, the book on Miami is changing. Extinguishing the Heat now requires stopping Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway and Mashburn.

"Before, he wouldn't have been as comfortable or confident," New York forward Latrell Sprewell said. "Now he's making a difference."

Mashburn made a sizable difference against the Knicks on Sunday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, picking up the slack left by a gimpy Hardaway (sore left foot). He scored 21 points and helped hold Sprewell to 11 on 4 of 12 shooting, contributing to Miami's 1-0 lead in this best-of-seven series that resumes tonight with Game 2 at AmericanAirlines Arena.

What's striking about that performance is that this traditionally isn't Mashburn's time. He always has been hard to find in the post-season, not sitting at center stage.

His career playoff high before this season was the 22 points he got against Chicago in 1997, the only time previously he had topped 20 in 27 post-season games.

But this post-season Mashburn is averaging 21 points, hitting big shots and playing one-on-one defense as well as anyone on his team. And, not surprisingly, the Heat is undefeated in four playoff games.

"I don't want to force any issue, but we need to manufacture shots for him," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "Having him on the floor as a constant threat is a key for us when he's making plays."

Miami saw this coming. Mashburn has been a different man all season. He had his best season since coming to Miami from lowly Dallas in an early 1997 trade -- for Kurt Thomas, Sasha Danilovic and Martin Muursepp -- that's looking like a steal for the Heat. He averaged 17.5 points after 14.8 and 15.1 the years before.

The increase, Mashburn said, is a matter of him being injury-free. Last season he went on the injured list after the second game with a severe bone bruise in his left knee. He was out for 26 games.

The season before that, a fractured thumb cost him 34 games after surgery.

"That's the main thing, that I'm healthy this year," Mashburn said. "I've been thinking that all along. I know that when I'm healthy, I'm capable of doing the things that I've been doing."

Miami, which has been eliminated by New York the past two seasons, needs Mashburn to continue his post-season sizzle not only because Hardaway is limping but because his matchup with Sprewell could be the difference.

Sprewell is one of New York's top scoring threats and its emotional leader. But Mashburn all but took him out of Game 1, especially in the fourth quarter, when the Heat) won the game. Sprewell got off just two shots in that period, missing both.

"It's a matchup that can go either way," Sprewell said. "He has advantages, and I have advantages. In Game 1 he was able to get going and played a pretty good game."

Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy isn't saying what the Knicks will do about defending Mashburn in Game 2, but he acknowledged that something different needs to be done.

"We need to do a little bit better job on him," Van Gundy said.

Chances are the Knicks will try to double-team Mashburn. They may play him one-on-one when he's on the perimeter, but they likely will send another defender in the low post, where Mashburn's height advantage (he has 3 inches on Sprewell) is exaggerated.

Whether that works also could determine whether the Knicks leave Miami down 2-0 or tied at 1.

"They're not going to let (Mashburn) play (one-on-one) against Sprewell," Riley said. "When (Larry Johnson) plays him, they play him pretty much straight up and down. But (with Sprewell), they'll double-team him."

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