Now that the teams are moving closer to game 21, I am looking at how they are bringing it all together for the playoffs and possible championship series.  On Saturday, 7 January 2017, the Heat and Bulls reported to North Highland Assembly of God's Church gymnasium for the first game of the afternoon.  The Heat were 8 - 7 and the Bulls were 5 - 13.  Statistically, the Heat is a bigger team with more wins and a deeper bench.  Though the Heat has those advantages, both teams have the same problem of matching their first half scoring in the second half.  From the standpoint of wanting to win, the Heat and Bulls are no different than any other team.  The players want to win.  Some just go about it with other thoughts and actions, in mind.

The game started with the Heat winning the first possession followed by a turnover.  The Bulls', Troy McBride (#8), scored the game's first two points.  The Heat's, Roger Powell (#55), scored his team's first two points as they possessed a lead of 5 - 4 at 15:43 minutes of the game.  The Bulls regained the lead at 7.  The game was tied at 7 before the teams exchanged leads seven more times and tied scores six more times.  I was surprised to see the Heat request their first timeout at 15:43 after gaining a 5 - 4 lead.  While the Bulls were trying to play a controlled game by passing the ball around, they would lose possessions due to shot clock violations, turnovers, and or missed shots.  While the Bulls were trying to distribute the ball, the Heat were doing the opposite.  The forwards/centers were left to substitute in and out of the game while the guards looked at each other for scoring.  Michael Brown (#3) led the Heat with 9 points (three 3-pointers) and Norman King was the co-leader with 8 points (one field goal and two 3-pointers).  Only one forward/center scored more than three points.  The Heat out-rebounded the Bulls 18 - 14.  Five Bulls scored four to six points.  The Heat outscored the Bulls 29 - 26 to end the first half.

The second half did not change strategies for either team.  The Bulls had six players to score two to five points.  The Heat went from six to four players scoring four to 10 points (led by (#3) Michael Brown).  Johnny Sanchez (#15) added 7 second half points for the Heat.  The game scores were tied at 38 with 11:12 remaining in the game.  With 5:07 remaining, the Heat held a 48 - 42 point lead.  The Heat outscored the Bulls 26 - 22 to win the game 55 - 48.

The scores and other statistics are located under the "Played Games" category under the "Schedule" Tab located at the top of the NOSBL website's' page.