LeBron James and Dwyane Wade carried the Miami Heat to victory over the Jazz last night for their sixth consecutive win by displaying the offensive fireworks we all anticipated when they joined forces this summer. In the 111-98 win James recorded 33 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists while Wade contributed 28 points and four rebounds/assists. They are outscoring their last six opponents to the tune of 608-509.

That’s a margin of 16.5 points per win, in case you’re counting.

If they indeed are just getting started we are in for one heck of a ride.

No, I’m not going to hand them the number one seed in the conference yet, much less the title. They are going to have to prove it by defeating the Celtics, Lakers, Mavericks, Spurs, or Magic for me to start recognizing their potential. However, for those of us who were criticizing them mercilessly during their times of hardship (including yours truly) we must at least give them their due when they are dominating.

In case you haven’t noticed, they are indeed dominating.

While their schedule hasn’t been that difficult (Wizards, Pistons, Cavs, Bucks) over the last two weeks, last night’s win was rather impressive, and not just because the Jazz were sporting a 16-6 record coming in.

Check out highlights of last night’s Heat victory HERE.

The Heat have made dramatic offensive changes in recent weeks, including actually playing a point guard (48 minutes combined last night for Arroyo and Chalmers) and spreading the floor much better than during their struggles.

Both Wade and LeBron were scrutinized heavily early on for not moving well without the ball but during their win-streak they are coming off cuts much more frequently and if an isolation play isn’t working now they swing the ball, sometimes to each other, and rotate back around. It has made them far more difficult to defend, especially with Bosh finding his mid-range comfort zone again.

Both Wade and James talked about the improvements after the game:

“We’re finding our comfort spots on the court at the same time,” said James, who is averaging 26.3 points during the Heat’s six-game win streak.

“We’re just doing our thing. We’re not being too unselfish. If one doesn’t have anything, we swing it to the other side and play good basketball.”

Wade has also found his long-lost shooting touch - over the last seven games he has shot over .500 in five while finishing strong around the rim, something that wasn’t happening earlier this season.

“We’re trying to be ourselves at the same time,” said Wade, who is averaging 23.2 points during the win streak.

“We wanted to get the other guy the ball but you also want your greatness to show. It is a learning curve. I think of late we’re playing great together, we feel great on the court together. I don’t think we look that terrible right now.”

And when these guys get out in transition, look out - I can only think of one tandem that defeats them right now in recent NBA history, and that was the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen transition game. What a sight to behold those two were over the years.

It’s not just their offense, either. Not only do the Heat currently rank #5 in offensive efficiency they are sporting a #3 rank on defense, holding opponents to just 100.9 points per 100 possessions. Wade and James are tough to handle defensively when they are motivated as they jump into passing lanes as well as anyone in the league and are able to play smart, efficient, tough one-on-one defense.

They also dominated the Jazz on the boards 42-28, something they weren’t able to accomplish early on, and Big Z grabbed ten of those himself.

They are still struggling in certain areas, including opponents destroying them in the paint (58 PIP for the Jazz last night), as Chris Bosh will never become the “Kevin Garnett-type” defender they wish he would. Their PG depth is still a major concern, especially on defense, and can Ilgauskas continue to provide 16 point, ten rebound outings all season?

Stranger things have happened.

Again, I’m not crowning them yet. Let’s see how they perform during the Feb/March grind first.

Better yet, let’s see how they fare against the Dallas Mavericks on December 20 - I’ll be watching that rematch, for sure.

I would be wrong to not be impressed with their improvements however, and would not be surprised if the Heat attain a second or third seed in this year’s playoff field.

All signs lead to them figuring things out, which is fantastic for them and not so awesome for the rest of us.

Unless you happened to be a Celtics fan, of course.