Five Stars: Opening Night

The number you see after each player's name is their GameScore, a metric predicated on his specific performance from last night and available at www.basketball-reference.com.

First Star

Chris Bosh – 24.2

Last night’s first star should be no surprise to those watching. He started out the night by hitting a corner three as he was falling out of bounds with two left on the shot clock, and didn’t slow down until the third quarter. Bosh finished the game with 26 points on nine-of-18 shooting, including three-for-four from deep and a perfect five-for-five from the charity stripe in a team-best 39 minutes of work. He also led the team with 15 rebounds (including four on the offensive boards), four assists, a steal and a block. He was also called for just one personal foul, and turned the ball over three times. His plus-12 mark ranked as the highest on the team. Bosh quickly laid to rest any question that he could lead this team or that he had lost a step playing second and third fiddle the last four seasons. Raptor-Bosh? Even better.

Second Star

Paul Pierce – 17.1

Pierce continues to defy father time, and indeed looked like he could probably play for another three seasons if he desired. He played 32 minutes, scoring 17 points on six-of-10 shooting, nailing one-of-three three-pointers and four-of-five from the line. He added six defensive rebounds, five assists, two steals, and only turned the ball over once. He was also fouled three times and posted a respectable minus-2 rating.

Third Star

Norris Cole – 15.0

Cole bucked the trend and found another gear, as seen when he was blowing by John Wall at least twice that I can remember. In the opening game of his fourth season, he scored a career-high 23 points, going nine-for-15 from the field and three-of-seven from deep (including one from the parking lot) in his almost 28 minutes of floor time. He was two-of-two on free throws, had three defensive rebounds, two assists, and a plus-6 rating along with one foul and three turnovers. I like 2014-15 Cole.

Fourth Star

Dwyane Wade – 14.6

The Heat fanbase underwent a scary moment when Wade was seen clutching his leg (not his knee, thankfully) after it was twisted in a scrum for the ball with fellow old man Pierce in the third quarter. He was helped to the locker room, but returned in the fourth quarter. He played 31 minutes and hit eight-of-16 field goal attempts, two-of-three from long distance, and all three of his foul shots. He added one defensive rebound, three assists, and two steals. He turned the ball over twice and committed two fouls.

Fifth Star

John Wall – 12.7

Wall had a game high 11 assists, going for the Wiz’ only double-double with 16 points on six-of-13 shooting in 37 minutes. When he wasn’t busy being victimized by Norris Cole, he also grabbed three defensive boards, registered two steals, committed three fouls, and turned the ball over a whopping six times.

The rest

Marcin Gortat – 12.6

Drew Gooden – 12.1

Chris Andersen – 12.0

Otto Porter – 11.1

Luol Deng – 8.2

Mario Chalmers – 4.3

Garrett Temple – 4.1

Shabazz Napier – 3.7

James Ennis – 3.2

Rasual Butler – 2.0

Shawne Williams – 1.8

Andrew Miller - -0.1

Kevin Seraphin - -1.5

Chris Humpries - -2.0

Next up for the Heat, the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. Keep us bookmarked here at Hot Hot Hoops for all of your Heat news.