MIAMI – Where would the Heat be without Mario Chalmers this season? I joked on Twitter that those are words I never thought I'd say, but it's becoming a theme early in the season for Miami.
The Heat snapped their three-game losing streak on Monday night in Brooklyn, and again, it was Chalmers making the big plays. With Dwyane Wade, Josh McRoberts and Luol Deng all out with injuries, someone needed to step up. Most expected it would be Chris Bosh. And while Bosh had a solid 15 points and nine rebounds, it was Chalmers pouring in 22 points and getting to the free-throw line 13 times.
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In his last three games, Chalmers has scored 23, 18 and now 22 points. That's a 21-point per game average while Wade has been out.
While Miami needs Wade back, and he could be back in the line-up as soon as Thursday night, Chalmers' ability to put up big numbers as a shooting guard is one of the highlights of an up-and-down start to the season.
I've been saying that it's hard to judge the Heat early in the season by record or stats because they have so many new players and they've also had key injuries, but the numbers don't lie for Chalmers.
He's having a career start to the year. Confidence has certainly never been an issue for him, but that consistent production hasn't always followed. In a perfect world, the Heat won't need his big scoring numbers.
The injured players should be back soon and we'll get a better idea of what this Heat team can be.
But one thing's been clear -- no player has been more vital to Miami early this season than Mario Chalmers -- words I never thought I'd type.