2015 NBA scores: Miami Heat look like the best team in the East, for one half

The Heat are a tricky team to figure out, but we saw them at their best for one half on Sunday.

Nov 2, 2015, 1:12 PM UTC

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

There's no team with as much variation as the Miami Heat. It's easy to see them finishing second in the Eastern Conference or falling all the way to eighth. Many of the major statistical models pointed to Miami being the most overrated team headed into this season, predicting a below .500 finish for the Heat. And regardless of where exactly popular opinion falls with the team, there's certainly major questions about most of the rotation players on the team.

After limping through two quarters, we saw the Heat at their collective best on Sunday. Down 19 points at halftime, Miami exploded to outscore the Rockets 65-26 in the second half. As much as it was an abject collapse by Houston, it was an equally impressive show of force from the Heat, who saw the Rockets' lack of size inside -- they were without Dwight Howard, Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas -- and simply overpowered them rather than matching small ball for small ball.

One by one, the Heat answered the questions that had lingered all offseason, like, “Can Hassan Whiteside still be the same player and learn not to foul?” He scored 25 points on 12-of-15 shooting, plus 15 rebounds and a plus-20 for the evening. Plays like this exemplified Miami’s power attack.

Another offseason question: "Is there some combination of players that Miami can use to consistently make a difference?" On Friday, there was. Tyler Johnson and Justise Winslow were instrumental in the fourth quarter surge that allowed Miami to take their first lead and then extend the lead all the way to the 20-point margin of victory. Winslow finished with 31 minutes, scoring 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting while knocking down both of his attempts from behind the arc. Remember, nine different teams passed on drafting him last summer. Then there's Johnson, who seemingly materialized out of nowhere last year and gave Miami 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the huge comeback.

It's only been three games, of course, so we still have a lot to learn from these Heat. With Gerald Green, Amar'e Stoudemire and Josh McRoberts also occupying the bench, Eric Spoelstra has his work cut out for him trying to settle on the right combination with this odd mix-and-match of mostly one-way players. When Dwyane Wade inevitably misses games, the Heat will have to figure out how to replace his still explosive scoring and playmaking. Miami needs to get Goran Dragic involved, too. They didn't trade for him at the deadline last year so he could average nine points, like he is so far this season.

That second half gives Miami a blueprint going forward, though. Crisp movement and shooting around the perimeter setting up Whiteside on the inside. A defense that gets it done through hustle and aggressiveness if pure talent won’t quite cut it. When you see the Heat make plays like this one below look easy while defenses frantically try to keep up around them, you realize they can be dangerous. Whether it can happen for 82 games, though, is the question Miami will just have to answer during the coming months.

3 things we learned

On the other side of things, the Rockets are struuuuuuglin'. This isn't a bad start. This isn't a terrible start. No, this is statistically the worst start any NBA team has ever had. No, seriously, until the 2015-16 Rockets, no team had ever opened the NBA season with three straight losses by 20 or more points.

There are reasons for this, of course. James Harden looks spooked, and after his MVP-level season last year, you'd have to guess he snaps out of it as soon as next game. He's shooting just 22 percent and has only made three of his 32 three-point attempts. There's no way that keeps up.

Houston is also missing their bigs. Dwight Howard sat out of the game for rest, and when Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas also are absent, it makes things very difficult. Nothing about this start should make you feel differently about Houston than you did before the season, but it’s an ominous beginning, for sure.

LaMarcus Aldridge is starting to find his San Antonio rhythm. With 24 points -- more than his first two games combined -- Aldridge looked great in a Spurs uniform on Sunday. Gregg Popovich made a point to involve him at every turn, calling up designed plays out of timeouts and leaning on him when San Antonio made a push to get back in the game that they ended up winning 95-87.

Dirk Nowitzki still has it. The ending was dicier than it should have been, but the Mavericks rolled past Los Angeles on the backs of their first ballot Hall of Famer nevertheless. Nowitzki scored 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting in a classic performance from the big German, nailing all his favorite shots: the one-footed fadeaway, the jumper from the low post off glass, a trio of three-pointers, and even a spin into the lane for the dunk.

Chandler Parsons also made his season debut, playing 12 minutes before resting the second half, as planned. It'll be a few weeks before Dallas is at full strength, with Wesley Matthews also dealing with a minutes restriction, but the Mavericks are coming along quicker than anyone expected. Their success still revolves around Nowitzki and his play on Sunday has to be a good sign.

Play of the night

What can I say? I’m a Dirk homer and he’s so great.

4 fun things

Russell Westbrook had this putback dunk over two Nuggets and might have taken their souls, too.

CHRIS BOSH BACK, DUNKING AND YELLING.

Avery Bradley also can dunk and this is a vicious one.

You'll wanna watch Kobe Bryant dribbling for 11 seconds before ... shooting/losing/getting fouled/something the ball off the top of the backboard. Also: check out Roy Hibbert begging for the ball.