Five Stars: Heat 110, Nets 99

First Star

Dwyane Wade (MIA) 28.8

Wade started at shooting guard for the Heat and earned his highest GameScore of the season (almost four better than his 24.9 against the Orlando Magic on the night after Christmas).

In 31:32, he scored a game-high 30 points on 14-of-19 shooting, missing his only three-point shot attempt but making both of his shots from the line. He also earned a game-high nine helpers, with two rebounds, two steals, a plus-9 rating, and two blocked shots. He now leads the team with 14 First Star games this season, and has had 40 overall performances which landed him in the Top Five.

Second Star

Thaddeus Young (BKN) 25.2

Young, a 6'8" power forward in his ninth NBA season out of Georgia Tech, led his club with nine rebounds in 30:55. He scored 20 points on a very efficient 10-for-12 clip, and did not attempt either a one- or a three-point attempt all night long. He had three assists, three steals, a blocked shot, and a minus-2 rating to close the game.

Third Star

Hassan Whiteside (MIA) 24.3

Whiteside registered a career-high 27 points on 12-for-16 shooting. Of course he did not attempt a three-pointer, and continued his not-embarrassing-at-all streak at the line, sinking three in four chances. In 31:02 off the bench in relief of Amar'e Stoudemire, he also earned eight rebounds (three offensive), with an assist, a steal, a single blocked shot, and a game-high plus-16 rating. He leads the Heat with 41 Five Star appearances.

Fourth Star

Josh Richardson (MIA) 18.0

Richardson makes only his fourth overall appearance in the Five Stars, but he vaulted over teammates Justise Winslow and Joe Johnson into eighth overall in the standings (below). He played a game-high 38:14 while starting at point guard in place of the under-the-weather Goran Dragic, scoring 16 points on six-of-nine shooting. He continued his otherworldly month from beyond the arc, draining three in four chances. He made one-of-two from the line, with five rebounds, three assists, two steals, a block, and a plus-13 rating before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a minor injury.

Fifth Star

Brook Lopez (BKN) 15.5

Lopez, the eldest of the NBA twins (by one minute over brother Robin), is in his eighth season (all with the Nets) out of Stanford University. This is his fourth time in the Five Stars (in four chances). Lopez started at center for Brooklyn and scored a team-high 26 points in 34:46, shooting 12-for-20, missing his only three-pointer and making both of his free throws. He had four rebounds (three offensive) with a blocked shot and an even rating.

The Rest

Shane Larkin (BKN) 11.1

Amar'e Stoudemire (MIA) 11.1

STAT continues to impress on his per-minute production, which would see his output rank him as tonight's fourth star if he had played at least 30 minutes. He scored 11 points with three rebounds and three steals in just under 17 minutes.

Justise Winslow (MIA) 8.5

Luol Deng (MIA) 7.9

Sean Kilpatrick (BKN) 7.2

Josh McRoberts (MIA) 5.3

Markel Brown (BKN) 4.7

Henry Sims (BKN) 4.6

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (BKN) 3.8

Chris McCullough (BKN) 2.6

Sergey Karasev (BKN) 2.2

Bojan Bogdanovic (BKN) 1.9

Gerald Green (MIA) 1.0

Donald Sloan (BKN) 0.9

Joe Johnson (MIA) -1.9

Five Stars Standings

Player	TP	COUNT
Dwyane Wade	263	40
Hassan Whiteside	244	41
Chris Bosh	213	33
Goran Dragic	141	27
Luol Deng	127	23
Gerald Green	35	9
Tyler Johnson	32	7
Josh Richardson	23	4
Justise Winslow	22	6
Joe Johnson	19	3
Amar’e Stoudemire	14	2
Josh McRoberts	12	2
Beno Udrih	10	3
GOAT	2	1

Miami's next time out will see them in a late matchup against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Forum at LA, Wednesday at 10:30PM. Thanks for following along with me this season as we go over the Top Five players from each game.