Jermaine O'Neal, Dime #20

The fans in Oakland must be getting restless lately. Every time that it looks as if Donnie Nelson has his boys playing better basketball (consecutive wins against Phoenix and Boston in late December), an injury – or angry teammate for that matter – halts the train. Most recently, Anthony Randolph’s severe ankle problems have forced the young forward to miss upwards of two months. So, expectedly, the main draw at Oracle is usually the opposing team.

This week, both the Cavaliers and Heat dropped by the Bay Area to visit GS. Naturally, having LeBron and Dwyane in-house brought out a strong attendance and a pair of wins by the visitors. The big story coming into Miami’s 115-102 victory over Golden State last night was if Wade’s injured wrist would allow him to play or not. Well I was there, and I can vouch that D-Wade is not human. He can’t be, because even with having an ailing forearm – that he repeatedly fell on – he dropped 35 and 7 on the Warriors on 10-15 shooting, his best of the season (also went 15-15 from the charity stripe). The Heat seized control of the game early in the third quarter and looked like a team that could challenge for a top spot out East – granted, it was against the Warriors. Still, Mike Beasley was hitting jumpers, Mario Chalmers was running the offense well – and much better than newly acquired Rafer Alston – and 31-year-old Jermaine O’Neal looked like himself circa 2005.

O’Neal was crashing the boards and making the Warriors’ bigs pay with mid-range baby-Js every time they let him float outside the paint. It’s safe to say that O’Neal will never make it back to the production he was accustomed to in his younger days (averaged 24 and 8.8 boards in 2004-05 with Indiana), but at this point, he looks like the key to Miami’s success. In his thirteen seasons in the League, O’Neal has never played a full 82-game season due to countless nagging injuries and had only registered 110 games over the last three years. However, this year O’Neal is staying in more games (33 out of Miami’s 37) and has become Miami’s most productive post presence.

Jermaine is hitting open shots, defending the frontcourt and crowding the offense glass more often. If Erik Spoelstra can get O’Neal to go out and get 15 and eight a night – just over Jermaine’s averages of 12 and seven on the season – Miami becomes a much more dangerous team. These are still very obtainable averages for the veteran and something that the Heat need. Wade is going to go out and get plus-30 with around six dimes a night, Beasley is becoming a more consistent scorer and Alston, Chalmers and Carlos Arroyo are three solid floor generals. O’Neal needs to continue to stay healthy and still become more consistent on the offensive end though. For all of his positive games this season, O’Neal has registered ten single-digit games as the starting center for the 19-18 Heat.

Miami is currently six games behind Orlando in the Southeast division and sitting in the fifth playoff slot out East. It’s not ridiculous to think that Dwyane and Co. could challenge both Orlando and Atlanta, who are right above Miami in wins. If Beasley can keep a cool head, Alston can find his groove and O’Neal can continue to play and keep his knees fresh, don’t be surprised to see Miami challenging for a spot in the Conference Finals.

Follow Jack on Twitter at @jensenjack.

Follow Dime on Twitter at @DIMEMag.

Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.